The Cabinet ministers named in the allegations, Jonathan Aitken, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and Michael Howard, the Home Secretary, were exonerated by Sir Robin.Yesterday, court sources said an ex parte application was granted on Thursday by the Recorder of London, Sir Lawrence Verney, sitting in chambers. This gives police access to a taped conversation between Mr Hitchen and Mr Fayed before the visit which it appears Mr Hitchen made to Downing Street on 29 September. The conversation is understood to include details of Mr Fayed’s allegations about the ministers. Mr Hitchen was unavailable for comment last night.The legal moves are part of a preliminary inquiry into whether an offence was committed and do not mean that a full investigation, let alone a prosecution, would follow.The case was brought by the police, who were represented by the Crown Prosecution Service, under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (Pace), which gives police powers to obtain confidential documents.Whitehall sources last night declined to confirm or deny the hearing had taken place, but confirmed that the CPS regularly assisted the police with applications for disclosure of documents under Pace.There has been surprise in senior legal circles at the suggestion that CPS and police inquiries could lead to proceedings for blackmail, which commonly involves demands for money with menaces.Mr Major’s disclosure in the Commons that a note of the conversation had been passed to the CPS came after Sir Peter Tapsell, Tory MP for Lindsey East, asked whether “Mr al-Fayed should be prosecuted for attempted blackmail”. But there is a growing conviction among senior London lawyers that the police inquiries are into whether an offence was committed under the 1906 Prevention of Corruption Act.. Sarajevo is enjoying the scent of optimism along with spring-like weather. Citizens are delighting in their first taste of victory; soldiers are dizzy with tales of courage restored and spirits lifted after the fall of the Serb-held town of Kupres.

“Morale is like it was at the very beginning of the war – you go to fight with your whole heart,” said Nurko, reunited with his girlfriend, Milada, yesterday after a stint at the front in the offensive for Trnovo, south of Sarajevo.
“It’s wonderful,” said Ljiljana Cvijic, a bookseller. “Now we have a good reason for following all the news.” The Sarajevo daily, Oslobodenje, announced in a banner headline, as if it could be news to anyone 12 hours after the event: “Liberators enter Kupres”. The first town to fall out of Serb control – and into the hands of the Bosnian Croat militia, acting in concert with its Muslim-led allies for the first time – was cause for celebration and some apprehension.People are so conditioned to expect the worst that many are spooked by the lack of a Serb response to the Bosnian attacks in Bihac, Kupres, Gradacac and Trnovo “I’m worried about the Serbs,” Ms Cvijic said. “They can attack Sarajevo and cut off our utilities any time, although I think it would not help them with the international community or the UN.” The peace-keepers hope she is right. At any rate, trams are moving, lights are on, water is hot, the airlift is running and, so far, the Serbs have not interfered.“The enemy won’t see spring,” boasted Suad, who returns to the front line tomorrow. “Results from other parts of the line really affect us – success raises our morale, our fighting spirit.” Stories abound of previously disaffected soldiers volunteering for service on Mount Igman, where the first hint of Bosnian resurgence came last month in two successful commando raids.“When you hear about great results on one part of the line it inspires you, you just feel like doing the same thing,” agreed Nurko.

We are deciding how we can best proceed.” At the same time, the consultants who head the regional haemophilia centres around the country have their own working party on haemophilia and hepatitis.The hepatitis C virus (HCV) was only identified in 1989 Before that, it was recognised as non-A, non-B hepatitis. The society is organising meetings to inform haemophiliacs and is in contact with the department.The National Blood Authority is also considering what action to take. Dr Fereydoun Ala, chairman of the Standing Advisory Committee on Transfusion Transmitted Infections, said: “Those working in the field believe we have a duty of care of patients and that we should be open about this. Haemophilia is an inherited disease whose major symptom is the failure of the blood-clotting mechanism.

Haemophiliacs, who are always male, often have to be given blood-clotting agents – called “factors” – which are produced from donated blood.Doctors say 90 to 95 per cent of haemophiliacs who used factors regularly before May 1985 have contracted hepatitis C.Now the Haemophilia Society is considering seeking redress from the Department of Health. Twelve British men with haemophilia have died from the liver disease hepatitis C after they were given contaminated concentrates of blood

All 12 men died last year. At least 2,000 more people are infected, and four have had liver transplants as a result.
Another 3,000 adults and children, who are not haemophiliacs but did receive fresh blood transfusions before 1991, may also have been infected, according to the Blood Transfusion Service, but are unaware of their condition.The emergence of these previously unreported deaths echoes the case of hundreds of haemophiliacs who caught the Aids virus from contaminated blood. Mike Ripley of the association said: “There are obviously people who want to get away from kids but there seem to be more people who are happy to have them around.”The changes to the rules on under-14-year-olds were made under the Deregulation and Contracting Out Bill, which has just gained Royal Assent.. A Green Paper backing longer hours is expected next year.Police and magistrates will be consulted in the next few months, and the public are also expected to get a say.A survey by the Brewers’ and Licensed Retailers’ Association found that about 75 per cent of parents were in favour of having children in pubs and 68 per cent of people who were childless also supported the move. European countries such as France, Spain and Italy have long allowed young families into bars.Michael Forsyth, the Home Office minister, is expected to announce today that children’s certificates will come into operation early next year.A Home Office team is considering whether to allow all-day opening on Sunday – at present pubs and off-licences have to close from 3pm to 7pm – and extending the opening hours on Friday and Saturday night, probably from 11pm to midnight, but possibly later. Teenagers aged 14 to 18 can have non-alcoholic drinks in a public house.Fears that children will be allowed into drinking dens where they will be exposed to drunks and foul language are unfounded, the Home Office believes.