The widow of a Royal Marines commando killed in a helicopter crash in the Kuwaiti desert has received a personal letter from the prime minister informing her that she will not now be made to pay back part of his salary and to give up her home.

Lianne Seymour had initially been told by the Ministry of Defence that she must move out of the house that she had shared with her husband and repay some of her husband's wages.

Questioned over the matter by Iain Duncan Smith in the Commons yesterday, Tony Blair said: "Whatever needs to be done there, will be done."

Blair has also used his personal influence to try to protect antique treasures being plundered by looters from buildings in Iraq.