Blair questioned by police on day of 'burying bad news'

Yesterday, history was made.

Tony Blair became the first Prime Minster ever to be interviewed as part of a criminal investigation whilst still sitting in office. Of course, you may have missed this news as the government chose this as the day to release several other bits of bad news in an attempt to wipe this headline away.

In a string of other announcements, the Transport Secretary, Douglas Alexander, published a progress report on the 2003 Aviation White Paper, and proposed the building of four new runways.

The Department for Constitutional Affairs under Lord Falconer of Thoroton announced it was pressing ahead with plans to limit the Freedom of Information Act ­ curtailing rights to access and increasing fees to apply.

The Government also chose yesterday to announce that the Serious Fraud Office was dropping its long-running inquiry into a multi-billion-pound arms deal with Saudi Arabia and the closure of 2,500 post offices in the face of fierce opposition from rural areas.

And, of course, we also had the release of the report into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.

It really was a very busy day even by Downing Street standards. Only a cynic would see any link between this barrage of information and the predicament that Mr Blair found himself in.

Some senior police officers were rumoured to be furious at the apparent attempt by No 10 to take attention away from their questioning of the Prime Minister, which underlined the seriousness and independence of their inquiry.

Mr Blair's aides tried to limit the damage, at first denying there had been an approach by the police and announcing he had been interviewed only after it had taken place. They also refused to answer detailed questions but disclosed he had not been cautioned ­ a clear signal that they believe he will not face charges.

Mr Blair agreed to meet the police shortly after 11am following a regular cabinet meeting, and a few hours before he flew to Brussels for an EU summit. Jack Straw, the Leader of the House, said later it was not mentioned at the Cabinet.

"It was a last-minute thing, the timing was down to the PM's people," a senior Whitehall source said. Mr Blair was quizzed in detail about a list of Labour donors who had been put forward by Mr Blair for honours. In each case, he denied a link between cash and the honours.

Blair has come up with a typical lawyer's answer to the charges against him. He now claims that the awards were given for services to the Labour Party rather than for services to the country.

Under this umbrella he claims it would be "unfair" to exclude people who had donated money to the party from consideration for honours.

Every time I think Blair can sink no lower in my estimation, he manages to inch down further. Labour came to power to end Tory sleaze. Blair ends up justifying his actions to policemen inside number ten.

As someone who fought eighteen long years to see a Labour Prime Minister elected in the UK, I find this depressing beyond words.

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