Foreign office minister Keith Vaz's role in the "dome cash for passports" row is under the spotlight, as the Tories search for another scalp in the affair.

William Hague said that "vital issues" remain unresolved, especially the role played by Vaz, who wrote to Peter Mandelson and the prime minister about the Hinduja brothers' applications for British passports.

The government has been accused of hiding behind the official inquiry into the row - which Blair' s spokesman said would "undoubtedly" investigate Vaz.

Vaz apparently fled from reporters yesterday in the face of possible hostile questioning after he delivered a speech to launch the European Year of Languages. Reporters who were waiting to talk to him were disappointed after he left the venue by a side exit, despite the head of the FCO news desk telling the media that Vaz would meet them.

The Sun reports that Reinaldo da Silva, Peter Mandelson's lover, previously had a relationship with Howell James, the Hinduja brothers' media adviser.

The Mirror, under the headline "What the Hinduja's going on here then", carries a picture of William Hague with the brothers at the centre of the scandal.

Chancellor Gordon Brown is reportedly trying to cash in on Mandelson's fall from grace, pressing for stiff economic and political tests to be met before the government calls for a euro-referendum.