THE scene is set for the most eagerly anticipated piece of political theatre since Tony Blair walked into Downing Street on that wave of euphoria in 1997.

Alastair Campbell, the condemned man who has come to symbolise the Government's ill-advised obsession with spin, will today give his long-awaited evidence to the Hutton inquiry into the death of weapons expert Dr David Kelly.

Mr Campbell knows all too well that he can expect no favours from the media which he was tasked with controlling in the days when the Government had the firmest of grips on power.

His every word will be shot to pieces by the firing squads of the national tabloids as he desperately tries to clear up the confusion and suspicion which surrounds the Government's case for going to war against Iraq.

This time, it will be Mr Campbell who will be on the receiving end of the spin as his words are manipulated and interpreted by a national press with a thirst for revenge.

What Mr Campbell says under the public gaze is of enormous importance to the credibility of a Government already seriously weakened by the case of the "sexed-up" dossier.

He has already signalled that he is leaving his post as the Prime Minister's director of communications but Tony Blair's future lies in his hands today.

Mr Campbell is expected to strenuously deny any role in the decision to reveal Dr Kelly's identity, knowing that the Prime Minister will be further - and potentially fatally - damaged otherwise.

With Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon reportedly signalling to colleagues that he is prepared to "fall on his sword", the scramble to distance Mr Blair from this tacky and ultimately tragic affair has taken on an increasingly desperate look.

But Mr Hoon's fate will wait. Today it is pay-back time as far as the tabloids are concerned and it is Alastair Campbell who is in their sights.

Rest assured that the headlines decrying the Government's king of spin will already have been worked on - and he hasn't even given evidence yet.