BRITAIN: The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, faced renewed allegations yesterday that he tried to win himself a bigger role in the Queen Mother's funeral. One paper printed a memo it said contradicted his version of events.
Mr Blair, whose government has been dogged by complaints that it is obsessed with image and "spin", had earlier sought to bury the row with the media by denying a spate of such reports.
But the Mail on Sunday said a memo from a parliamentary official, Mr Michael Willcocks, proved Mr Blair's Downing Street office had tried to inflate the prime minister's role.
The paper quoted Mr Willcocks, who in his role as "Black Rod" was in charge of the Queen Mother's lying-in-state, as saying officials had exerted "sustained and constant pressure" in an attempt to boost Mr Blair's presence.
"What's the PM's role? . . . won't the PM be meeting the coffin? . . . surely the PM greets the queen?" were some of the queries from Downing Street mentioned by Mr Willcocks.
Mr Blair's Conservative opponents gleefully demanded he make a statement to parliament.
The story took off last week after the Press Complaints Commission announced Mr Blair's office had dropped its complaint about the allegations, prompting howls of mockery from the papers concerned and his opponents.
However, the Northern Ireland Secretary, Dr John Reid, speaking on BBC Television, said he was astonished to be grilled about "playground gossip" rather than political violence in the North.
Dr Reid said Mr Willcocks "has made it absolutely plain he was not asked to change any arrangements. We are trying to cope with a health service that needs improving, a war on terrorism . . . and Northern Ireland. The Conservatives have nothing whatsoever to say on the major issues".
The former sports minister, Mr Tony Banks, said the saga was fuelled by journalists seeking to settle scores with Mr Blair's abrasive media chief, Mr Alastair Campbell, who has faced calls to resign from both sides of the divide.
But he said it was damaging to Mr Blair's five-year-old government nonetheless. - (Reuters)