Archives: 1 February, 2004

SEVEN-THIRTY on Wednesday evening, Westminster. Lord Hutton has reported, the gathering storm has shifted from above Downing Street. One of the unsung figures in the drama is alone outside. Lord Falconer, long-term friend of Tony Blair and the constitutional affairs secretary who oversaw Hutton's selection and the conduct of his inquiries, is huffing and puffing his way up the steps of Westminster tube station heading for a party.

Five minutes later, he is out of his coat and smiling, in Downing Street with a glass of champagne in his hand, alongside the Prime Minister, Cherie Booth, and most of the senior government figures released from their purdah by Hutton. Blair believes he has successfully passed the toughest hurdles of the most treacherous week of his political career. But across Britain there is one word on the lips of his critics and neutrals alike: whitewash.

• Eddie Barnes on "Teflon" Tony Blair surviving the Hutton Inquiry.