Hewitt blasts Cherie's critics

Trade Secretary Patricia Hewitt has hit out at critics of Cherie Blair - labelling some attacks on the Prime Minister's wife "vile".

Ms Hewitt used a conference fringe meeting at Bournemouth to round on the media over its obsession with what Mrs Blair was wearing.

Mrs Blair, who was in Moscow today attending a school library festival, has faced claims that her appearance had deteriorated since the disappearance of her style guru Carole Caplin.