Peter Mandelson has persuaded Tony Blair to order a review of new evidence which the Hartlepool MP hopes could clarify his role in the millennium dome "cash for passports" row.

Mandelson was forced to resign from his post as Northern Ireland secretary in January 2001 following a row over his intervention in the Hinduja brothers' passport applications. The intervention followed a donation from the Hindujas of £1 million to the millennium dome, for which Mandelson was then responsible.

Tony Blair ordered Sir Anthony Hammond QC, who conducted the original inquiry into the passport application, to look again at new evidence that Mandelson hopes will cast fresh light on his role in the affair.

"The inquiry has been reopened because some further papers came to light and the prime minister asked Sir Anthony Hammond to review them and address whether they would have affected the conclusions of the original inquiry," explained a Number 10 spokesman.