Campbell set to be recalled

Alastair Campbell is set to be recalled to the Hutton Inquiry to face fresh and potentially damaging questions on his role in the case of weapons expert David Kelly.

The heat was back on Mr Campbell today after a series of new disclosures - including evidence that he tried to "spin" the Kelly case and had to be dissuaded by colleagues inside No 10.

The inquiry heard yesterday that the Prime Minister's communications' chief planned to leak to a friendly newspaper the fact that Dr Kelly had come forward to confess he had given an unauthorised briefing to BBC reporter Andrew Gilligan on the Government's dossier on Iraqi arms.

One of Mr Campbell's two deputies, Godric Smith, said he overheard his boss discussing the ploy with Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon.

Mr Smith and his fellow deputy Tom Kelly told Mr Campbell the matter should be handled in a "straight" manner and talked him out of the idea.

Mr Campbell was also accused today of misleading MPs over his role in drawing up the dossier. He told the Commons foreign affairs committee that he had proposed 11 changes to the text a week before it was published last September. But evidence given to the Hutton Inquiry this week showed 15 changes were proposed.

Critically, Mr Campbell apparently failed to include in the list he provided to the MPs the tougher language he wanted on the claim that Iraq could deploy chemical or biological weapons within 45 minutes.

A Tory member of the committee, John Maples, said: "This is very serious - I believe we have been misled here."

At the end of his own appearance before the inquiry, it appeared Mr Campbell had fended off the main charges against him. But Lord Hutton has already made clear that key witnesses whose evidence is contested or open to further question face being called back for more detailed cross-examination.

At that stage they may, if they wish, be legally represented. Today it looked increasingly likely that Mr Campbell will be on that list. Today's session of the inquiry into Dr Kelly's death was set to take evidence from the chairman of the foreign affairs committee, veteran Labour MP Donald Anderson. He faced uncomfortable questions over the rough ride Dr Kelly was given by the committee.

The weapons expert was clearly under pressure as he was accused at the televised hearing of being no more than " chaff " employed to distract attention from the real problems the Government faced on the Iraq issue.

It was two days later that Dr Kelly disappeared and was soon afterwards found dead in an apparent suicide.

Today's session was also due to take evidence from some of the journalists involved in the hunt to establish Dr Kelly's identity after the Ministry of Defence announced that an unnamed official had come forward to say that he might have been the mole behind the BBC's claim that the Iraq dossier was "sexed up" by No 10.

The MoD has already been accused of providing so many clues to Dr Kelly's identity that it was only a matter of time before he would be unmasked.

Attention was homing in, however, on the appearance of Tony Blair in front of the inquiry, which could come as early as next week. Evidence produced to the hearing yesterday showed that he demanded that " something was done" about the Kelly case.