Prime minister's questions

Sketch
By Nick Assinder
Political Correspondent, BBC News website

David Blunkett was not in the chamber to hear Tony Blair praise him to the rafters - or even hear Michael Howard talk of his honour.

Howard turned his fire onto Blair

He was preparing for his press conference to explain why he had resigned for the second time from the cabinet.

Perhaps an appearance at question time would have threatened to be too painful.

But the caravan had already, and inevitably, moved on. It was Tony Blair the opposition leader Michael Howard had in his sights.

And his attack amounted to claiming that the Blunkett affair was just the latest episode showing that the prime minister was a "lame duck" who had lost his authority, his cabinet allies and his judgement.

"Doesn't he see, doesn't he really see this is the beginning of the final chapter of his administration".

And using the phrase once delivered by a former Conservative chancellor, Norman Lamont, at his own prime minister, John Major, he claimed Mr Blair was "in office but not in power".

Friend and ally

It must have been an awful half hour for the prime minister who, according to his spokesman, had spent much of the morning with Mr Blunkett debating his future.

Howard refused to get into attacks on Mr Blunkett

And, if the prime minister's remarks were anything to go by, he had not wanted to lose his friend and ally.

Mr Blunkett was a decent and honourable man who had overcome daunting personal challenges, he said.

Then he went on to echo the words he used after Mr Blunkett's first resignation, when he said he left with his integrity intact.

This time he was leaving with "no stain of impropriety against him whatever," he said.

That all brought howls of protest, even anger from the opposition benches who believe Mr Blunkett has paid the price for breaking ministerial rules.

Yesterday's news

The cheers of support from Mr Blunkett from the Labour benches were easily drowned out by the cacophony from the other benches.

And the prime minister's attempt to go line by line through the allegations against Mr Blunkett and explain why they had not required disciplinary action met a similar response.

Michael Howard was not getting into all that. As far as he was concerned, David Blunkett was already yesterday's news, he was focused firmly on the prime minister.

Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy concentrated instead on the rules, declaring it was nonsense that outgoing ministers should be forced to take advice from an advisory committee but were under no obligation to take or act on that advice.

It is a point that will be raised increasingly over coming weeks and months.