Tony Blair has indicated that David Blunkett could return to the Cabinet at a future date.

Interviewed on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, the prime minister said he was also "very sad" that the former home secretary had been forced from government.

Asked if Blunkett could return to the Cabinet, Blair said: "I certainly hope he will at some point".

But in a leading article, the Times warns the prime minister that he should recognise Blunkett's mistakes.

Sympathy for the former home secretary could evaporate, says the paper, if Blair "wishes away the mistakes... in a misguided attempt to hasten his return to office".