Mittal 'met envoy 12 times'

The Government today faced new embarrassment over the "steelgate" affair after it was claimed that Britain's ambassador in Romania had at least twice as many meetings as previously admitted with billionaire Lakshmi Mittal.

The Foreign Office has maintained that Ambassador Richard Ralph had only about six meetings with Mr Mittal in the run-up to the tycoon's £300million deal to buy Romania's Sidex steel firm.

That account was flatly denied by Mr Mittal's spokesman. He said: "We had at least a dozen meetings with the ambassador, if not more. It was certainly not six. They were not occasional. We were in and out of the embassy all the time. The ambassador could not have been more helpful."

The discrepancy is a fresh blow to government efforts to play down its involvement, up to and including the letter from Tony Blair sent to Romania's premier in support of the deal.

Shadow cabinet office minister Tim Collins called for the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee to summon Mr Ralph to give evidence about his actions. He said: "There are now serious questions surrounding the role of the British ambassador in Bucharest."

Mr Blair will attempt to put what he calls "garbagegate" behind him in a keynote speech on Friday.

He will make a big effort to turn the spotlight back to the "core issues" of health, education and the other public services.

The attempt was further undermined, however, by the emergence of a video showing shamed former Europe Minister Keith Vaz at a reception, surrounded by business tycoons, joking that he was "the Minister for Visas".

The video footage, unearthed by Channel 4 News, shows Mr Vaz speaking at the London launch of a Bollywood movie. The video, taken in July 2000, shows Mr Vaz telling film producer Subhash Ghai: "If you want to do any filming in the Commons, let me know. Or even if you want to come to the Foreign Office, we'd be pleased to meet you there. Because I do also happen to be Minister for Visas."

Mr Vaz, lost his ministerial job after the general election. He is currently banned from the Commons for a month for his conduct during the Elizabeth Filkin inquiry.

The reception caught on film was attended by Mr Mittal as well as by the wealthy Hinduja brothers, who helped bring about the downfall of another minister, Peter Mandelson.