Mandelson resigns over passport row

Northern Secretary Peter Mandelson has resigned this afternoon following a lengthy meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Mandelson was locked in talks with Blair to "establish the facts" of his involvement with the Hinduja brothers' passport application, while the pair were donating money to the ill-fated Millennium Dome.

Mr Blair's spokesman, Alastair Campbell, who yesterday had to concede he had made statements on the issue to reporters which were "plainly not true", has all but publicly accused Mr Mandelson of misleading him.