BRITAIN: Pressure continued to build on British culture secretary Tessa Jowell last night, as the cabinet secretary sought to "establish the facts" about her and her husband's financial dealings and any possible breach of the ministerial code.
At the same time, prime minister Tony Blair and education secretary Ruth Kelly resumed efforts to overcome the threatened Labour rebellion against the new education Bill published yesterday, which could see controversial school reforms in England passed courtesy of Conservative votes in the House of Commons.
Having held on to her post following last month's revelations about sex offenders working within the education system, Ms Kelly declared herself confident Labour MPs could unite around her Bill and see it passed into law without Mr Blair suffering the embarrassment of depending on Tory support.
The previously embattled Ms Kelly also offered her support for the now beleaguered Ms Jowell, as Downing Street confirmed the inquiry into her financial affairs by cabinet secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell.
Shadow leader of the Commons Theresa May raised a possible breach of the ministerial code governing ministers' conduct after the Sunday Times claimed to have established a link between a loan secured on a house owned by Ms Jowell and her husband - international corporate lawyer David Mills - and money which Italian prosecutors claim was a "bribe" paid by Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Ms Jowell insists she acted properly in signing an application for the loan of some £400,000 against the jointly owned London property, in order to allow her husband to invest in a hedge fund. The minister has also categorically denied that funds used to repay this second mortgage just weeks later, reportedly from a second hedge fund, came from Mr Berlusconi. Mr Mills denies any wrongdoing, insists the money came from another client, and says admissions he previously made about its source were forced from him by hostile Italian police interrogators.
The prime minister's spokesman yesterday maintained Ms Jowell had Mr Blair's "full support". Responding to impressions that Monday's endorsement of Ms Jowell had been less than emphatic, the spokesman said: "I said yes [ on Monday] and yes today. Somehow my yes came across as no, or maybe. I say yes today." However, he refused to say whether Ms Jowell had discussed the matter with Mr Blair and said he would not be providing "a running commentary" on Sir Gus O'Donnell's inquiry.
The first public signal of Labour disquiet over the affair came yesterday from Tony Wright, chairman of the influential Commons public administration committee. He said he believed what he called "a great big mess" had left Ms Jowell "in some difficulty."
Speaking on the BBC's Today programme, Dr Wright said: "I think Ms Jowell is in some difficulty in the sense that all this stuff is swirling around and there's nothing much she can do, except say it is completely unfounded. I'm sure that at some point in the past she wishes that over the breakfast marmalade she said to her husband 'Could you not do a bit of gentle conveyancing in the Home Counties'?"
Ms Kelly said she had no reason to doubt Ms Jowell's integrity and was confident about the outcome of the inquiry being undertaken. Ms Kelly appeared equally confident that her new education Bill, allowing the creation of "trust" schools - with greater say over admissions and budgets, but precluding interviews or selection by academic ability - contained sufficient concessions to reduce the numbers of Labour MPs threatening the derail Mr Blair's "flagship" legislation in key votes next month.