Mandelson at No 10 to explain passport incident

Northern Secretary Peter Mandelson has been called into 10 Downing Street by Tony Blair to "establish the facts" of his involvement with a passport application.

Mr Mandelson faces mounting criticism over his involvement in a passport application by Indian businessman Srichand Hinduja.

Shadow Cabinet Office minister Andrew Lansley has called for an inquiry.

Downing Street initially denied Mr Mandelson had got involved with the matter in 1998, while he was Cabinet Office Minister.

But yesterday the Prime Minister's official spokesman admitted that Mr Mandelson had made a telephone call to then-immigration minister Mike O'Brien.

The same month Mr Hinduja and his brother gave written confirmation they promised £1m for the Millennium Dome's Spirit Zone - later renamed the Faith Zone. At the time, Mr Mandelson was the minister responsible for the Dome project.

Mr Lansley said: "On the face of it, there is evidence that government guidelines on sponsorship were contravened. These guidelines say that there must be no suggestion that privileged access has been granted to ministers in return for Government sponsorship".

Mr Lansley said that he wanted to know in detail how the Home Office dealt with Mr Hinduja's application and what action Mr O'Brien took in response to his phone call from Mr Mandelson.

Mr Mandelson has insisted he did nothing wrong, and said he would act in the same way again.

But Home Office minister Charles Clarke suggested that it was regrettable that the saga had emerged piecemeal over several days.