Downing Street is insisting there was nothing improper in Cherie Blair's purchase of two flats with the help of a convicted fraudster.

Mrs Blair is facing almost universal press criticism after confirming Peter Foster had helped her - despite earlier denials from the Number 10 press office.

Mrs Blair is just as entitled to her privacy and not to have wild allegations made

Tony Blair's spokesman

The prime minister's official spokesman tried to draw a line under the affair on Friday - refusing to go into further details because it would breach the Blair family's privacy.

But at a briefing for journalists, the spokesman faced repeated questions about an apparent discrepancy in Mrs Blair's statement.

That statement came after the Daily Mail published a series of e-mails between her and Mr Foster after Number 10 said talks over the flats were handled by Mrs Blair and her lawyer.

The newspaper suggested Mr Foster helped Mrs Blair get a discount on the flats.

'Perfectly legal'

Mrs Blair said those talks were over before Mr Foster helped her by talking to property agents "for a couple of weeks" in Bristol, where the Blairs' eldest son is studying.

But e-mail traffic suggests Mrs Blair and Mr Foster were discussing the flats deal for at least six weeks, from 20 October to 29 November.

The Mail criticises Cherie Blair's behaviour

The prime minister's spokesman refused to explain that discrepancy, nor would he comment on claims that Mr Foster himself had paid �4,000 in accountancy fees for Mrs Blair.

The spokesman said: "I have nothing to add to what I said yesterday. This was a perfectly proper, legal transaction in which nothing extraordinary or illegal took place.

"Mrs Blair is just as entitled to her privacy and not to have wild allegations made."

The row has soured relations between Downing Street and journalists in the parliamentary lobby.

Lobby chairman James Hardy, of the Daily Mirror, said the lost trust had to be restored "because the entire credibility of the government rests on it".

She is a judge who lacks judgement

The Sun's editorial

Friday morning's newspapers pour scorn on Mrs Blair and the Number 10 press office over the affair.

The Daily Mail's Friday editorial proclaimed: "If the heart of our political establishment can't be trusted on such a simple matter as telling the truth about a property deal, can it be trusted on anything?"

Cherie Blair bought two flats in this development

On Thursday, Mrs Blair said if she had caused "any misunderstanding between the Number 10 press office and the media that is unfortunate and I regret that".

She later stressed "she, and she alone" was responsible for the misunderstanding.

Mrs Blair arrived for work at Isleworth Crown Court in west London on Friday without speaking to waiting journalists.

Her husband also ignored questions about the affair when he visited an NHS walk-in centre in Bristol, where by coincidence the flats at the heart of the row are located.

Mrs Blair was due to chair the Pope Paul Memorial Lecture, organised by the aid agency Cafod, in Westminster on Friday evening.

Publicist Max Clifford has suggested there could be more newspaper stories this weekend about Ms Caplin's influence over Mrs Blair.

Liberal Democrat chairman Mark Oaten said the row might be a "storm in a teacup", but the boundaries between public and private life could only be preserved if the role of public servants was clear.

The Sun also attacked the prime minister's wife

The Conservatives are staying out of the row, although they say they will look at whether the government was involved.

Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, speaking in Aberdeen, said: "What I will clearly want to look at and what we will all want to look at is whether the government is involved, and whether or not it's right or wrong, and I can't make a judgement on that.

"With regard to Cherie and her problems - these are things that she'll deal with directly herself."

Mrs Blair insists Mr Foster, boyfriend of her friend Carole Caplin, was never her financial adviser.

In her statement, Mrs Blair said she had not known about Mr Foster's past when she accepted his help.