Friends of Peter Mandelson are putting pressure on Downing Street for the prime minister to clear the former Northern Ireland secretary's name should the Hammond inquiry find him innocent.

They say they hope that Blair would be "good enough" to give Mandelson a clean bill of health if it is found that he did not lie over the Hinduja affair.

However, Mandelson has been accused of selectively leaking the sections of the Hammond report which show him in a good light.