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| Blair questioned in honours probe | Blair questioned in honours probe |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Prime Minister Tony Blair has been interviewed by police investigating cash for honours allegations. | |
| The probe began after it was revealed Labour was given secret loans ahead of last year's election. Some donors were subsequently nominated for honours. | The probe began after it was revealed Labour was given secret loans ahead of last year's election. Some donors were subsequently nominated for honours. |
| Mr Blair was not interviewed under caution and he was not accompanied by a lawyer, his spokesman said. | |
| Assistant Commissioner John Yates, of Scotland Yard, has said he expects to deliver a report to the CPS next month. | Assistant Commissioner John Yates, of Scotland Yard, has said he expects to deliver a report to the CPS next month. |
| Mr Blair's spokesman said the two-hour interview was held on Thursday after the weekly Cabinet meeting. | |
| Mr Blair explained to police why he had nominated each one of the people he had put forward for a peerage. | |
| There is no indication so far of whether police will want to talk to the prime minister again. | |
| The inquiry was prompted by a complaint from the Scottish National Party, and has since widened to include other main parties. | |
| "Given that the SNP made the complaint about people nominated for peerages by the Prime Minister you would expect that the police would ask to see the PM as their inquiries come to a conclusion," the PM's spokesman added. | |
| About 90 people have been interviewed by the police. All deny any wrongdoing. | |
| BBC Political Editor Nick Robinson said it was an extraordinary development but one that had been expected for some weeks. | BBC Political Editor Nick Robinson said it was an extraordinary development but one that had been expected for some weeks. |
| But he said the fact that Mr Blair was not interviewed under caution was significant as it implied that police did not intend to bring any charges against him. | But he said the fact that Mr Blair was not interviewed under caution was significant as it implied that police did not intend to bring any charges against him. |
| But he said it was an embarrassment for the prime minister who had promised to make politics "whiter than white" when he came to power in 1997. | But he said it was an embarrassment for the prime minister who had promised to make politics "whiter than white" when he came to power in 1997. |