Steelwatch: the latest

No10 said Tony Blair's sending of a letter supporting LNM's £300 million Romanian steel deal was the sort of thing the Prime Minister does all the time. It was merely a letter to support a British business open up a key Eastern European market and was sent after the deal had been agreed.

When he signed it, Mr Blair had no knowledge of Lakshi Mittal's donations to Labour, including a £125,000 payment. This was made after last year's general election.

The admissions so far

No similar letters supporting British firms doing deals in Eastern Europe have yet been produced, three days after Downing Street's original assertion. The donation was made before the general election, not after, though details were not made public until after polling.

Mr Blair has met Mr Mittal, although not for face-to-face talks.

The letter was altered at Downing Street before being sent. The Foreign Office version included a claim that Mr Mittal was a "friend" of Mr Blair's - a reference removed by a No10 official. Downing Street has denied this unnamed official was Jonathan Powell, Mr Blair's chief of staff.

What still needs to be explained

Who at the Foreign Office wrote into the letter that Mr Blair was Mr Mittal's friend? If it wasn't Mr Powell, who took the reference out at Downing Street? Why was this done - and why did it need to be done - if nobody was aware of Mr Mittal's Labour donations?

What was Mr Powell's precise role in the affair? Is it right that somebody who played such a key role in fundraising for Labour before the party came to power now has such a sensitive post as Mr Blair's gatekeeper?

At exactly which events have both Mr Blair and Mr Mittal been present?