TESSA JOWELL, the culture secretary, and her husband David Mills announced their separation yesterday as friends revealed she felt betrayed.

They disclosed that she was furious at having been kept in the dark as her husband fought a bribery investigation by Italian prosecutors.

As Jowell became embroiled in the scandal, friends said she had been particularly upset by the disclosure that her lawyer husband had not only traded on her status but also boasted of his connections with Tony Blair when seeking a licence to practise in Dubai.

“Tessa has been very angry, hurt and upset,” said a close friend of the family yesterday. “She doesn’t know what’s coming next and there is a deep sense of betrayal. It had gone beyond rows, beyond shouting. Just a sense of betrayal.”

The friend added: “She has been in the dark about this. The whole family is shocked, especially as she loves him so much. She has done everything to keep her nose clean and now she feels betrayed.”

The couple have two children together and he has three children from his previous marriage.

A close colleague of Jowell’s added: “There’s been a breakdown of trust, having learnt about things he has done which she didn’t know about. It is not a synthetic stunt.”

Another colleague said: “ If the allegations against Mills are proven, then she will have been misled by her husband. I have worked closely with her for years and know her as a woman of integrity.”

News that the couple have split came in a statement yesterday from Mills’s solicitor, who said that the controversy had imposed a “dreadful strain” on the marriage. It said Jowell had been “angered by the embarrassment” her husband had caused her. It is understood that she will live in their London home, while he will move to their country house at Shipston on Stour, south Warwickshire.

The announcement failed to relieve the pressure for Jowell to explain exactly what she knew of her husband’s business dealings as fresh questions emerged over his tax affairs and mortgage deals.

Bob Marshall-Andrews, a Labour MP, dismissed suggestions the split would help save her career. “I don’t think it will make any difference,” he said.

Some MPs suggested that the separation was calculated to save Jowell’s career by distancing her from her husband’s problems. They detect the hand of Alastair Campbell, the former Downing Street director of communications, and his girlfriend Fiona Millar, who are close friends of Jowell.

Campbell, who is alleged to have forced Robin Cook, then foreign secretary, to choose between his wife and mistress as he was about to board a plane in 1997, and Millar have been advising Jowell in the past few days.

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