Blair allies could face charges

Blair allies could face charges

The revelations come at a sensitive time for the governing Labor Party ahead of local elections next month, and before Blair's widely-expected resignation.

The police inquiry into the affair, dubbed cash-for-honors, was launched a year ago amid claims that political parties had illegally offered financial supporters seats in parliament's unelected upper House of Lords.

Police investigating the allegations handed a file on Friday to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which must now decide whether anyone should face criminal proceedings in the case.

Blair was interviewed twice as a witness in the probe, the first sitting prime minister to be questioned as part of a criminal inquiry, as the police gradually closed in on his Downing Street office.

However, The Times said it understood that two of Blair's closest allies face charges: Lord Michael Levy, Labour's chief fundraiser and Blair's Middle East envoy, and Ruth Turner, the Downing Street director of government relations.

The pair and two others were arrested in the probe. They, plus biotech tycoon and Labor backer Sir Christopher Evans, remain on bail. All three deny any wrongdoing.

Under the front-page banner headline "Charge them!", the rightwing Daily Mail tabloid claimed that police were calling for Evans, Levy and Turner to be prosecuted. The newspaper did not name its source.

According to The Times, police had discussed possible charges against Evans, Blair's longest-serving aide Jonathan Powell, and John McTernan, the prime minister's political secretary, though it was unclear whether they were recommended for prosecution.

"The evidence under normal circumstances would be considered as strong. But who knows what will happen in this case. The stakes are so incredibly high," an unnamed source told The Times.

In a statement, London's Metropolitan Police said that 136 people had been questioned either as witnesses or suspects as part of the probe.

Members of Blair's cabinet were among those quizzed.

The FT said a final decision was unlikely to be made "for several weeks and almost certainly after Mr Blair's resignation as prime minister, expected in early May."

In its editorial, The Times said the timing of the police handing its file to the CPS was "bound to trigger a degree of adverse comment," coming in the run-up to the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly and English local elections.

Blair has vowed to step down as premier by September and is likely to announce a firm date soon after the May 3 vote.

"It would be extremely unfortunate if the return of this saga influenced how votes were cast in these contests only for it to be discovered later that no one was to be charged, never mind convicted," The Times added.

"This has been an extremely political case from the outset."