Along with Gonzales and Wolfowitz, another Neo Con corrupt warmonger involved in scandal clinging to a position he should have abandoned long ago

NOW BLAIR FACES HUMILIATION

TONY Blair is facing the prospect of quitting Downing Street in humiliation, as the cash-for-honours scandal threatens to reach a climax on the eve of his retirement.

Westminster sources predicted yesterday that any possible charges in the corruption investigation will come in June – widely expected to be the Prime Minister’s last full month in office.

Previously, Number 10 officials were counting on any potential prosecutions beginning long after Mr Blair had walked away from Downing Street.

Signs of the quickening pace of the Scotland Yard inquiry has led to panic, among Downing Street aides, that the Prime Minister’s exit will be overshadowed by the sleaze scandal.

Speculation that some of Mr Blair’s closest advisers could soon face criminal charges intensified after Scotland Yard sent a 216-page file on the case to the Crown Prosecution Service last Friday. Opposition MPs urged prosecutors to bring the 13-month investigation to a rapid conclusion.

It should not take long to bring this to a conclusion

David Davis, Shadow Home Secretary

Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said: “They should get on with this. It should not take very long to bring it to a conclusion; what I do not want to see is a politically-driven timetable for those decisions.”

Mr Blair himself was understood to be “relaxed” about the outcome of the case.

Insiders suggest that the Prime Minister, twice questioned by police as a witness in the case, is completely cleared by the Yard report. And some critics suspect that he is increasingly resigned to leaving a political mess that his old rival Gordon Brown – the most likely successor – will be unable to clear up.

Speculation about possible charges in the cash-for-honours inquiry centred yesterday on the Prime Minister’s chief of staff, Jonathan Powell, although he has not been arrested or charged with any offence. Allegations investigated are understood to relate to breaches of the 1925 Honours Act and an alleged conspiracy to block the inquiry.

The Yard dossier is also understood to deal with the roles of Mr Blair’s chief fundraiser, Lord Levy, and Head of Government Relations, Ruth Turner, who have both been arrested, with bio-technology boss and Labour donor Sir Christopher Evans. All have denied any wrongdoing.

In another twist in the scandal, a Labour document dating from soon after the 1997 election victory, but leaked yesterday, showed that Mr Blair’s aides were desperate to encourage wealthy donors to continue bankrolling Labour.

The document said major donors “need to be invited to Number 10... If this cannot take place then income levels may be affected”.

Controversy intensified yesterday as the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, again refused to step aside from any decision about prosecutions.

Critics claim that his Cabinet post conflicts with his duty to oversee the Crown Prosecution Service. Lord Goldsmith said: “I can assure you and everyone else that, if I am consulted, any decision will be taken objectively, on the evidence, independently of Government. My first duty is to the law, not to party politics.”

He added: “I am responsible by statute for the superintendence of the CPS and accountable to Parliament for the decisions it takes, and I don’t think I can stand aside.”

But Scottish Nationalist Party MP Angus MacNeil, who made the original complaint to police about honours being touted for political donations, said: “It is simply untenable for him to have any role in this case, and he must step back from that now.”

Original article posted here.