Britain:There was anger in Downing Street yesterday after police changed tack and decided to disclose the fact that the prime minister, Tony Blair, has been interviewed a second time over the "cash for honours" affair.
Scotland Yard declined to say why they first asked for a news blackout on the interview, which took place in Number 10 last Friday "to clarify points emerging from the ongoing investigation". With each side briefing against the other, there was also irritation in Whitehall at initial reluctance by the police to confirm that they had decided to reveal that Mr Blair had been interviewed again.
That decision, apparently indicated to Number 10 sometime on Wednesday, triggered another series of damaging headlines, prompting talk of a British "Watergate" and a Liberal Democrat assertion that "this inquiry is going to haunt Tony Blair throughout his last months in office and beyond".
While Conservative shadow chancellor George Osborne said he did not want to "prejudge" the police inquiry, his party leader, David Cameron, said yesterday's news "only confirmed" that Mr Blair should go "and go soon".
Sources close to the Blair camp maintained Mr Blair had nothing to fear from a police inquiry they said showed growing signs of "panic".
They specifically asked why the police focus appeared to have shifted from the initial complaint - that peerages and honours may have been traded for secret pre-election loans - to a suggested "conspiracy to pervert the course of justice".
In a statement, Scotland Yard made clear that Mr Blair was interviewed as a witness, not a suspect, that he had "co-operated fully" with detectives, and was not placed under caution for the interview, which lasted less than one hour.
The prime minister's official spokesman said Mr Blair was accompanied by a Downing Street note-taker but did not have a lawyer present.
Last Friday's interview came a week after the arrest of Mr Blair's senior aide Ruth Turner, and just days before the arrest of his fundraiser Lord 'Cashpoint' Levy, this time on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
Like Mr Blair, Lord Levy, Ms Turner and director of political operations John McTernan - who has also been interviewed twice - have categorically denied any wrongdoing.
It was reported yesterday that Lord Levy, who is also Mr Blair's personal Middle East envoy, had been questioned about notes of meetings at which he is alleged to have discussed honours with senior Downing Street staff.
Downing Street has previously denied reports that a handwritten note by Mr Blair is among evidence uncovered by detectives, or that there is a second computer or email system into which police had "hacked" in pursuit of a suspected "cover-up".
Invoking memories of US president Richard Nixon in the Commons on Wednesday, Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond directly asked Mr Blair if there had been "a cover-up in Downing Street". And yesterday his colleague Angus MacNeil MP - whose initial complaint sparked the police inquiry - suggested: "Mr Blair's situation is looking worse with every passing day. He appears to be in very deep trouble."