Blair spins into retreat

Downing Street was in full retreat today in the row over government spin.

No10 admitted for the first time there could have been a genuine misunderstanding over Tony Blair's role in the Queen Mother's lying-in-state.

Had the Prime Minister attempted to grab the limelight? In a dramatic change of tack, No10 confessed that could well have been read as the message.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman acknowledged that the official in charge of the event, Black Rod, Lt Gen Sir Michael Willcocks, could have believed that he was being urged to give Mr Blair a bigger role.But the spokesman insisted: "At no stage was there any intention to try to enhance the Prime Minister's role.

"The fact that others have chosen to interpret it in that way - or even to believe it to be true - does not make it true. It is not true."

The softer words were a clear and sharp change in tone from the original Downing Street denunciation of the charge as "lies" and "malicious gossip which has been written as fact".

And it was another sign of the fears among Mr Blair's team that the account from Sir Michael of the contacts between himself and No 10 will contradict the Downing Street version of events.The retreat over Black Rod was only one of a series of government moves aimed to defuse a row that refuses to go away.

? Downing Street confirmed that, even as the Queen Mother's cortege was heading for Westminster, there were discussions with Black Rod as to whether Mr Blair and other ministers should walk from Downing Street or travel by car.

? Today's Cabinet meeting held an anxious discussion of the problems created by spin, with Mr Blair urging ministers to concentrate on delivering better health, transport and education services and not be distracted by "attacks that may come from other quarters".

? No10 announced that Mr Blair will next week hold the first of a series of monthly press conferences.

? And Downing Street fended off calls for Mr Blair's communications boss, Alastair Campbell, to step down, saying he retained the Prime Minister's "full confidence".

Reports of a last moment plan for Mr Blair to walk the 300 yards from Downing Street to the Lying in State ceremony reinforced the suspicions among his opponents that the Prime Minister had been aiming for a more prominent role. That was very strongly denied today by Downing Street, who said the decision had been simply a matter of "logistics".

But the No 10 spokesman confirmed that there had been a last moment discussion, as the Prime Minister and his party prepared to head for the ceremony.

A call was made to one of Mr Blair's protection squad who was already at the Palace of Westminster who, in turn, "informed" Black Rod. The reply he got is not recorded but Mr Blair and his team decided, on their own account said No 10, to stick to the original plan and travel by car.

There were strong denials that Mr Blair would have taken the chance to "gladhand" mourners on the way, an obviously inappropriate and unlikely scenario.

But what is not disputed is that a sombre funeral march by the Prime Minister across Parliament Square would have been an unmissable event for the TV cameras.

More Labour voices today joined the calls for Mr Campbell to step down, complaining he was now doing the government and Mr Blair more harm than good.

The Labour peer, Lord Desai, this afternoon followed former deputy leader Roy Hattersley in saying the time had come for change. Lord Desai pointed to the comment from Gordon Brown's departed spin doctor, Charlie Whelan, who said that when the messenger became the story it was time to go. And asked whether that now applied to Mr Campbell he said: "I think he has become the story."

How the official line has changed
Peter Oborne: The truth