Mandelson blasts Conservative links to mole

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Breaking the convention that ministers do not comment on individual cases, he suggested that mole Christopher Galley gave secrets to further his ambitions in the Tory party.

"The separate and equally important issue is the apparent relationship between the Opposition and the Home Office official who, in an attempt to pursue his political ambitions in the Conservative party, allegedly seemed systematically to pass sensitive and classified Home Office papers to the Conservative party, apparently in full knowledge of the Conservative party front bench and in complete breach of the Civil Service Code and the law," Lord Mandelson told BBC radio.

He accused the Conservatives of manufacturing a row over the police raids on the Commons office of Tory frontbencher Damian Green as a "smokescreen" to hide their own role in possibly breaking the law.

"Whilst I recognise the anger being expressed by some MPs is no doubt sincerely expressed by some of them, I also think it is particularly self-serving of Conservative MPs who want to put up a smokescreen to hide their own party's relationship in allegedly colluding with a Home Office official in breaking the law," he said.

The Commons Speaker Michael Martin was warned today to "say sorry or you're toast" over his failure to stop the raid on Mr Green's office.

Tory and Liberal Democrat grandees were today ready to challenge the Speaker if he refuses to allow a proper debate on the decision to let detectives search Mr Green's Commons room. But backbench MP Richard Bacon, who was rallying support to challenge the Speaker's authority, issued a blunt warning.

Mr Bacon wanted a meeting with Mr Martin. He managed to speak only to his secretary Angus Sinclair but left him in no doubt about the anger among MPs over the affair.

"He needs to say, sorry, it should not have happened, I take responsibility and it won't happen again," the Conservative MP said he told Mr Sinclair.

"If he says anything less than that I think he's almost certainly toast and he may be toast anyway."