Noose tightens on Blair

Hutton, whose inquiry is expected to begin later this week, will make the request after sources close to the government suggested a trail of paper and electronic data could prove Downing Street’s involvement beyond doubt.

Scotland on Sunday has been told that notes on the government’s decision to "out" Dr Kelly as the source for BBC claims that the case for war in Iraq had been "sexed up" may have been taken during Downing Street’s daily 8.30am meetings of senior staff. A spokesman for the inquiry said it was vital that any relevant Downing Street records be passed to Lord Hutton in order to establish the role of ministers and officials in the events that led up to Kelly’s suicide shortly after his identity was leaked.

The Downing Street meetings would have been attended by Blair’s communications director Alastair Campbell, chief of staff Jonathan Powell and political adviser Sally Morgan. Insiders also claim Kelly may have been alluded to in e-mails and telephone calls which are routinely logged.

Yesterday Lord Hutton met Kelly’s grieving family privately to discuss how his forthcoming inquiry into the death would proceed. There were reports last night that Kelly’s wife Jan may have kept a record of the days running up to his suicide that could tell the full story of his treatment by the government.

Hutton’s intervention was backed by one of Kelly’s closest friends, Professor Alastair Hay, who believes Blair was intimately involved in the affair. He said the handover of such materials was essential and a spokesman for the Hutton inquiry said Hutton would expect nothing less.

The latest developments are a serious setback for the Prime Minister, who has been fighting hard to distance himself from the Kelly affair but now finds himself facing fresh questions about his role in the events leading to Kelly’s death. Last night former Labour defence minister Doug Henderson added to the theory that Blair could be caught up in the investigation after he told Scotland on Sunday he believes Blair may himself have been consulted about the leaking strategy.

He refuses to accept Blair’s claims that he was unaware of the strategy to leak Kelly’s identity as the BBC source for its claims the case for war in Iraq had been "sexed up".

The MP, a member of Blair’s government until 1999, said that based on his own experience during the Kosovo conflict, he believed Downing Street would have been intimately involved in the Kelly affair.

Henderson added that the decision "might have gone to the very top" despite Blair’s strenuous denials.

Another source close to the government said Blair’s "fingerprints were all over it" and one of Kelly’s closest friends insisted the Prime Minister was linked directly to the death of the Ministry of Defence scientist, who was appalled to find his name and reputation thrust into the public arena.

The leak strategy was devised in an attempt to discredit the BBC which the government claimed had inaccurately described its source as a senior intelligence figure.

The former minister, who is regarded as a moderate figure close to Gordon Brown, said: "I would guess that the (MoD) Permanent Secretary and the Secretary of State for Defence knew about the decision to effectively leak Kelly’s name to the press and I believe that would be known by Downing Street.

"I can’t believe that such a key decision would be taken without passing it to someone in Downing Street.

"If that process was followed, Downing Street would have been at the very minimum consulted about their views and it might have gone to the very top.

"He (Blair) wouldn’t probably attend a meeting that dealt with this kind of thing but someone from Downing Street would almost certainly be present."

Sources close to the government also claim Blair and other ministers knew Kelly had admitted being the BBC source six days before his name was leaked to the media.

The allegations place Blair, who strenuously denies authorising a leak, at the heart of the events leading up to Kelly’s suicide earlier this month.

One informed source said: "Blair knew that Kelly had come forward on July 3, six days before Kelly was named. (David) Blunkett (the Home Secretary) knew about it on July 3 too and I understand other ministers did as well."

Meanwhile, Professor Alastair Hay, a chemical weapons expert and friend of Kelly, said: "This death was the consequence of a process and he (Blair) could have called the dogs off.

"Instead they just ground on relentlessly and there seemed to be no cognisance of fact that there was a terrible dimension to this and that someone was under such stress."

As this newspaper exclusively revealed last week, Downing Street officials sought to pin responsibility for the government’s mishandling of the affair on Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon’s department.

Now, as the Prime Minister faces up to the expected resignations of Hoon and his communications director Campbell, he is set to come under intense pressure over his own role.

The Tories said the position of any minister who put Kelly’s name into the public domain for political reasons would be "untenable".

David Davis, the shadow Deputy Prime Minister who claims Blair has put "spin first and the truth second", added: "In view of the confusion over whether the Prime Minister was consulted about the release of Dr Kelly’s name, all the relevant papers in Downing Street should be made available to Lord Hutton’s inquiry."

A spokesman for the Prime Minister refused to add to earlier remarks Blair has made about his role in the affair, other than to confirm: "We will make materials available to the inquiry."

Yesterday it emerged that Blair had told allies he would not allow Kelly’s death to deflect his determination to secure a historic third term.

He is expected to use a press conference on Wednesday to underline his desire to take Labour into the next election and beyond.

The row between the BBC and the Government escalated dramatically last night.

Gavyn Davies, the corporation’s chairman, was reported as having accused Cabinet ministers of seeking to destroy the independence of the BBC in revenge for its refusal to back down in the Iraq dossier row.

Insiders at the BBC believe that Labour ministers are attempting to use the renewal of the BBC’s charter, which is due to come up in 2005.