Britain: Mr Tony Blair denied leaking the findings of a key parliamentary inquiry into the Iraq weapons dossier yesterday as he was accused of leaving Defence Secretary Mr Geoff Hoon "twisting in the wind".
And as a furious row over the leak built at Westminster last night, the Prime Minister's official spokesman indicated there would be an inquiry as a former Labour minister, Lord Gilbert, suggested he knew the source and that the culprit would be identified.
Number 10 refused to comment on speculation that the leak might have come from inside the normally highly secretive Commons Intelligence and Security Committee, which will publish its report into the use of intelligence in the run-up to the war in Iraq later this morning.
The Conservative leader, Mr Iain Duncan Smith, had earlier accused Mr Blair and Number 10 of "spinning" the committee's verdict following a report in the London Evening Standard that it would accuse Mr Hoon of giving it "misleading" and "unhelpful" evidence, specifically about concerns among Defence Intelligence staff about the now-notorious dossier published last September. This account of the committee's findings was denied by senior Whitehall sources.
The newspaper also claimed that today's eagerly awaited report will conclude that the controversial claim about an Iraqi capacity to deploy weapons of mass destruction (WMD) at 45 minutes' notice should not have been included in the dossier - while clearing Mr Blair's outgoing communications director, Mr Alastair Campbell, of having the claim inserted against the wishes of the intelligence services.
The report that Mr Campbell would be exonerated over charges of "sexing-up" the dossier, and might now expect an apology from the BBC, renewed speculation at Westminster that Mr Hoon is being lined up as the Cabinet fall-guy following Lord Hutton's eventual report on the circumstances leading to the death of government weapons expert Dr David Kelly.
In their first exchange since the summer break and the commencement of the Hutton inquiry, Mr Duncan Smith challenged Mr Blair to say if he would dismiss Mr Hoon if he had been found to have misled the Intelligence and Security Committtee.
Mr Blair retorted: "If he actually has evidence that somebody from Downing Street has put this report in the newspapers, perhaps he would produce it now because I believe that to be completely untrue." But despite Mr Blair's insistence that he await publication of the report, Mr Duncan Smith continued: "His (Mr Blair's) officials are briefing on it even as we stand here."
Mr Duncan Smith demanded how Mr Blair could justify leaving the defence secretary "twisting in the wind" when it was in his power to resolve the issue by publishing the report without further delay.
And he asserted: "You can get rid of Alastair Campbell and even the defence secretary but the lying and spinning won't stop until you get rid of this prime minister." Having earlier appeared to side-step the growing question over Mr Hoon's future, Mr Blair paid tribute to him, saying that under him the British armed forces had won "a magnificent victory" in Iraq and were now playing a "heroic" role in the rebuilding of Iraq.
Liberal Democrat leader Mr Charles Kennedy said it would be "enormously surprising" if the leak had come from a member of the parliamentary committee, which delivered its report to Mr Blair on Tuesday.