POTENTIALLY the political repercussions of the death of Ministry of Defence scientist David Kelly can create the sternest test this Government will face.

It adds a new twist to the crisis over the justification of the war against Iraq.

A Government with its honesty and integrity under intense scrutiny now has to grapple with a personal tragedy in which a wife has lost her husband and three women have lost their father.

The Prime Minister's decision to order a judicial inquiry into the circumstances leading up to Dr Kelly's death is the very least he can do for his family and friends.

But such a narrow inquiry will not halt Tony Blair's slide into the darkest days of his six years in office.

His administration has been, rightly or wrongly, saddled with the reputation of putting presentation ahead of substance in the run-up to military engagement in Iraq.

Now, rightly or wrongly, the sinister spectre of spin casts a dark shadow over the death of a civil servant.

Already accusations have surfaced that Dr Kelly was a fall guy, set up by the Government to distract attention from the fact that, three months after the end of the war, no evidence of the existence of weapons of mass destruction have been found.

This is not idle speculation. It comes from members of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee who have questioned Dr Kelly on two occasions.

Coming from such an authoritative and respected course, this speculation will not abate.

Mr Blair and his administration is facing a crisis of confidence and trust, made more acute by the death of Dr Kelly.

Having stubbornly refused to order an independent inquiry into the gathering on intelligence on Saddam Hussein's military capability, it seems somewhat strange that Mr Blair can order an independent inquiry into Dr Kelly's death within minutes of a body being found.

For the sake of his own integrity, for the sake of Dr Kelly's family and the overriding public interest, Mr Blair must widen the scope of the judicial inquiry to take in the whole of the Government's presentation of the case for going to war against Iraq.