We told the truth about Black Rod, says Downing St

Prime Minister's spokesman reveals 30-page dossier of what was said to whom about Blair role at royal lying-in-state

The 30-page dossier released by Tony Blair yesterday, in a desperate attempt to staunch the flow of press stories about the lying-in-state of the Queen Mother, sets out Downing Street's chronology of events.

It also includes the declassified guidance on the arrangements Downing Street worked from in the event of the Queen Mother's death, as well as letters and evidence sent to the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) by Alastair Campbell, Mr Blair's director of communications and strategy.

In a letter setting out Downing Street's original complaint to the PCC against The Spectator, Evening Standard and The Mail on Sunday, Mr Campbell said he found their "untrue" allegations to be "deeply offensive". He claimed the original account, in The Spectator, was "politically motivated and mendacious".

He speculated that their stories could have been prompted by a "twisted and distorted" version of a contact between Clare Sumner, a Downing Street private secretary, and Black Rod, Sir Michael Willcocks, the parliamentary official in charge of arrangements for the Queen Mother's lying-in-state.

In his PCC submission, Mr Campbell said Ms Sumner had taken internal guidance from files dated 1994 when she spoke to Black Rod on Easter Day, the day after the Queen Mother's death. That guidance said the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition would greet the coffin; but Black Rod told her that his more recent guidance was that it would be met by the Speaker and the Lord Chancellor, while Mr Blair would head a line of MPs on one side of Westminster Hall.

Mr Campbell told the PCC: "Clare Sumner said, 'Fine', and that all concerned just needed to know what the arrangements were. At no time did she question these arrangements or seek a different role for the Prime Minister. She was clear throughout that the Prime Minister would do whatever was required of him. At no time did she question these arrangements or seek a different role for the Prime Minister. She was clear throughout that the Prime Minister would do whatever was required of him."

A memo from Ms Sumner released yesterday echoed Mr Campbell's version of events. She said she had expressed surprise in her mobile phone conversation with Black Rod that two separate sets of guidance were in existence.

But Ms Sumner added: "I said, and I remember this very clearly, 'You are Black Rod, you are arranging it, just let me know what you want the Prime Minister to do so I can arrange it'. I thought no more of it. At no point did I say I thought the Prime Minister should meet the coffin or question the arrangements. I basically said throughout the Prime Minister would do whatever was required of him. I would like to make it absolutely clear that I never expressed any disappointment about the Prime Minister's role."

Ms Sumner, who stressed she was a career civil servant, added: "At no time did I say, 'Could the Prime Minister meet the coffin?' I said that my guidance says the Prime Minister meets the coffin. I was making inquiries about what the Prime Minister was expected to do."

She said she had spoken only once to Black Rod about the part Mr Blair would play. But she acknowledged there were other conversations on separate issues, such as the arrangements for spouses. In a separate document, Downing Street admitted there had been a "few short telephone conversations (three or four)".

Downing Street also released the eight-year-old guidance for the lying-in-state, which it maintains is at the heart of the controversy. Ms Sumner was working from the document, which is marked "restricted", when she spoke to Black Rod. It is vaguely worded on the crucial question of the part the Prime Minister would play in the ceremony at Westminster Hall. It says that although the Speaker and Lord Chancellor would meet the coffin on its arrival, "the Prime Minister and leaders of the other parties would also be present at the arrival".

A later memo from Ms Sumner to Mr Blair advised him of the protocol at the lying-in-state. Intriguingly, it also hinted at his wife's possible reluctance to attend. "This is a parliamentary occasion. However, spouses will be invited and if Mrs Blair wanted to come, our understanding is that she would stand with you. The House Authorities have stressed she is not required to come," Ms Sumner told her boss.

Number 10's chronology also touches on the controversy over claims that officials had considered the possibility of Mr Blair walking from Downing Street through crowds to the ceremony. It said: "Before leaving No 10, it was suggested that the Prime Minister might walk. After briefly considering the matter, including the security considerations, it was decided, within No 10, without feedback from Black Rod, to drive.

"While the matter was being considered, a protection officer in Downing Street notified the detective waiting for him in Westminster Hall the Prime Minister might walk."

The detective at Westminster Hall told Black Rod the Prime Minister was going to walk, and asked if there was any problem with the Prime Minister going through the North Door. Black Rod said that was no problem. As agreed, the Prime Minister was driven to the Hall."

Asked why No 10 was publishing the documents, Mr Blair's spokesman said: "We had hoped we could draw a line under this. But papers have continued to publish false accounts of what happened. We are putting all the facts in the public domain. We are doing so only because it is the only way our side of the story can be heard."

Blair's statement: 'I have to try to set the record right'

This is the full text of the statement today by Tony Blair, the Prime Minister:

"I agreed to settle the PCC case on the basis that the newspapers had made clear they accepted I did nothing wrong or improper in relation to the events surrounding the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.

"It is clear that far from accepting that, they continue to publish false accounts of what happened during that period.

"I had hoped to avoid an unseemly public row about this, but in the light of the contrary reports being put into the public domain, I am today publishing a chronology of contacts with Black Rod's office, and I am also publishing the evidence we submitted to the PCC. I believe it shows that the civil servants in Downing Street did nothing more than seek to establish what was expected of me, and that this was done, quite properly, without reference to me.

"I have absolute confidence in the integrity of the civil servants involved in these discussions. They are career civil servants who have served Labour and Conservative governments.

"I know the public is far more interested in issues of policy, the economy, jobs and living standards, public services, than this. So am I. They are the issues I spend my time dealing with.

"But when false and serious allegations continue to be made like this, I feel I have to try to set the record straight.

"I should add that at no time have I, or anyone on my behalf, received a complaint from the office of Black Rod."

The secrectary's evidence: 'I did not make a series of calls'

From the text submitted by Number 10 to the PCC from Downing Street private secretary Clare Sumner:

"My job as duty private secretary was to find out what the Prime Minister was required to do at the lying-in-state and minute him accordingly.

"It would have been inappropriate for me to seek to change the arrangements. I did not do so and this is clearly expressed in Black Rod's own statement ...

"At no point did the PM suggest any changes to the arrangements ... I did not make a series of phone calls to Black Rod about the PM's role. Black Rod and I only had one conversation specifically about what the PM was required to do and I detail that conversation below. ...

"At no point during the weekend in question did I discuss the Prime Minister's involvement in these arrangements with Alastair Campbell. ...

"Black Rod and I spoke late morning on Easter Sunday. ...

"I told Black Rod that the guidance I had was that the PM and the Leader of the Opposition met the coffin ... Black Rod said his guidance did not say that and that it was the Speaker and the Lord Chancellor who met the coffin. ... I said absolutely fine and expressed surprise that people had different guidance given the event had been planned for such a long time but not to worry ...

"I would like to make it absolutely clear that I never expressed any disappointment about the PM's role. ... My duty period finished at the end of bank holiday Monday. I had no further conversations with Black Rod."