The Conservatives kept up the pressure on the British government over the Hinduja passport applications yesterday, demanding to know the role played by the Europe minister, Mr Keith Vaz, in the affair.
The shadow home secretary, Ms Ann Widdecombe, tabled a series of parliamentary questions about his involvement with the Hindujas after it was confirmed that Mr Vaz wrote to the Home Office and Downing Street asking about progress in the passport applications of Mr Srichand Hinduja and his brother, Gopichand.
Ms Widdecombe said she was concerned that passport applications, which usually took about 20 months to complete, were processed in six months. Mr Srichand Hinduja's second passport application was made on October 20th 1998, six days before the Hindujas donated £1 million to the Dome and he received his passport in March 1999. Mr Gopichand Hinduja applied for his passport in March 1997 and it was granted later that year when Labour came to power.
It was Mr Peter Mandelson's failure to disclose his direct involvement in Mr Srichand Hinduja's passport application that led to his resignation as Northern Ireland Secretary this week.
As the inquiry into the passport row led by Sir Anthony Hammond QC got under way, the Prime Minister, Mr Blair, defended his minister, saying: "From the look of the papers I have seen I cannot see anything wrong with what has been done. Keith is a prominent Asian MP, they are prominent people from the Asian community, and he made representations on their behalf. I cannot see anything wrong in him making representations on other members of the Asian community."
Speaking ahead of a reception at the Indian High Commission in London, Mr Vaz said he was happy for Sir Anthony's inquiry to publish letters he wrote in 1997 when he was a backbench MP about the Hinduja passport applications. "Let's get the facts, let's not talk about innuendo," he told BBC Radio Leicester. "I'm very happy to have all my correspondence published. I don't think you will find it as exciting as you think it will be." He said other prominent people, such as the former South African athlete, Ms Zola Budd, had received passports very quickly.
Mr Vaz also expressed his disappointment at references to the Hinduja's Indian nationality in some media reports: "I don't like this underlying hint of `Should an Indian get a passport?' "