Only at Oxford could the word "now" cause so many problems.

The reply "no, not now" by Oxford's chancellor, Lord Jenkins, to a question posed in last week's Spectator about the chances of the prime minister receiving an honorary degree has proved to have a multitude of interpretations.

In the article - and subsequent reports - it was interpreted to mean: not in the light of recent Labour attacks on Oxford elitism.

Lord Jenkins, in a letter to The Times, insists he was being more literal:

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"What I said was: 'not now', which is a statement of the obvious and, who knows, may not preclude the future."

Oxford 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ itself suggests it means Tony Blair will only receive an honour if there is a revolution. According to a spokesman: "Oxford has got into the habit of not awarding honorary degrees to politicians, unless they are heads of state."

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The tradition of honouring graduates who become prime minister was suspended after dons voted against awarding an honorary degree to Margaret Thatcher in protest at higher education cuts.

Since then, they have, as Lord Jenkins puts it, "rather lost our nerve about politicians".

But the rules appear relatively flexible. Mr Blair's name has come up at least once since he became prime minister. The proposal to award him an honour in 1997 coincided with government debate over whether to cut fees for Oxbridge colleges. Some dons were concerned that an award might be interpreted as bribery.

Dons are invited to make nominations for honorary degrees in the spring to an advisory committee for degrees by diploma and encaenia honorary degrees (those to be awarded at the annual commemoration of Oxford's founders and benefactors). The committee submits a shortlist of candidates in the autumn to the university council, which refers proposals to its committee on honorary degrees. The final list must then receive the approval of Congregation.

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Paul Slack, principal of Linacre College and chairman of the advisory council, declined to discuss even the mechanics of the process, stressing the importance of confidentiality.

Anyone nominating a candidate is asked to make every effort "to ensure that publicity is not at any stage given to any proposal for the conferment of an honorary degree".