The beleaguered junior foreign minister, Mr Tony Lloyd, was last night under pressure to give a full explanation of his role in the arms-to-Sierra Leone affair after admitting errors in his evidence to MPs.
Mr Lloyd insisted the Foreign Secretary, Mr Robin Cook, had "set the record straight" when he made a House of Commons statement on Wednesday announcing an independent inquiry into the affair. But any hopes that he could draw a line under the matter were quickly dashed when the Tories dismissed his response as "grossly inadequate" and called for a full statement.
Downing Street declared that Mr Lloyd and Mr Cook had the "absolute confidence" of the Prime Minister.
However, the firm of "military consultants" at the centre of the affair - Sandline International - stepped up the pressure by releasing details of its contacts with officials to back up claims it was acting with government approval.
The firm - headed by a former army officer, Lieut Col Tim Spicer - is under investigation by Customs and Excise for supplying arms and mercenaries to forces loyal to the deposed President Kabbah in breach of UN sanctions. But it insists that it had a licence for this from the British government, which wanted to see President Kabbah restored to power.
The Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman, Mr Menzies Campbell, said Sandline's claims had "opened up a can of worms" and called for a Commons statement.
Mr Lloyd, meanwhile, wrote to the chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr Donald Anderson, admitting there were "points to correct" in his evidence to the committee this week.
But the shadow foreign secretary, Mr Michael Howard, said in response: "He says there are `points to correct' but doesn't state what those points are. He doesn't correct them in full and he doesn't apologise."
The Tory Foreign Affairs Committee member, Mr David Wilshire, said that he would now be calling for both Mr Lloyd and Mr Cook to be summoned before the committee. "What was a bungle is now rapidly turning into a cover-up," he said. Sandline's allegations were contained in a letter written by the firm's solicitor, Mr Richard Slowe, to Mr Cook on April 24th which it released to the press.
It said the British High Commissioner in Sierra Leone, Mr Peter Penfold, had first suggested that President Kabbah approach Sandline for help in regaining power.
The letter names four Foreign Office officials who, it said, were briefed by the firm about its "operation". The letter said Sandline was "led to believe that clearance was given at head of department level".