'Steelgate' diplomat to step down

The British ambassador at the centre of the Lakshmi Mittal "cash for favours" scandal is to step down.

Richard Ralph, a pivotal figure in the controversy involving the millionaire Labour donor and steel tycoon, will relinquish his post in November.

He will be replaced at the British embassy in Bucharest by Quinton Quayle, a diplomat of 25 years' standing and director of British Trade International. Mr Ralph's next posting is expected to be announced by the Foreign Office later this year His involvement in the so-called Steelgate scandal emerged earlier this year when it was revealed that Tony Blair had written to the Romanian premier backing Mr Mittal's bid to buy the Sidex steelworks.

It was later claimed that the Prime Minister had done so on the advice of Mr Ralph, who held a series of meetings with the Indian businessman. Diaries detailing the crucial period of the meetings-were alleged to have gone missing. Conservatives criticised the announcement of Mr Ralph's move, which came on a press release on the Foreign Office website after MPs had left the Commons for their two-week Jubilee recess.

The Foreign Office denied that Mr Ralph's move was related to the Mittal affair. The ambassador's involvement in the scandal deepened when it emerged that his girlfriend Jemma Marlor was employed by the legal firm which worked on Mr Mittal's £300 million Sidex takeover.