The Other Velcro Don

On Friday, Scotland Yard declined to comment on reports that many of the businessmen involved in the "cash for ermine" scandal faced police questioning after Easter. Hair wars broke out at Westminster yesterday over the disclosure that Cherie Blair charged the Labour Party £7,700 for a personal hair-stylist during last year's general election campaign. Mr Blair strongly defended Charles Clarke the Home Secretary, and Patricia Hewitt the Health Secretary, who have been at the center of the storm of criticism engulfing his administration. Asked if Miss Hewitt had offered to resign after she was booed and heckled by nurses and heath service workers, Mr Blair said: "Certainly not, and nor should she." On the foreign prisoner release blunder, he said that Mr Clarke should be allowed to get on with the job. "To be fair to him, he is actually sorting it out now, I think he should get on and sort it out." Pedal faster. No, faster.