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No cash-for-honours charges - CPS 'Relieved' Levy slams probe leaks
(10 minutes later)
Prosecutors have said there is not enough evidence to bring charges in the long-running cash-for-honours inquiry. Labour's former chief fundraiser Lord Levy has spoken of his relief after prosecutors said there would be no charges in the cash-for-honours probe.
The Crown Prosecution Service has said there will be no prosecutions over claims that people were nominated for peerages in return for political loans. Lord Levy, one of four people arrested during the 16-month police inquiry said it had been an "incredibly long and extremely stressful" period.
For the CPS Carmen Dowd said it had been a complex case but there was insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction. He said media leaks had been incorrect, misleading and "personally damaging".
The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed there was insufficient evidence to bring any charges in the case.
Police interviewed 136 people including ex-PM Tony Blair in the 16-month probe.Police interviewed 136 people including ex-PM Tony Blair in the 16-month probe.
Head of the CPS Special Crime Division Ms Dowd paid tribute to the "diligence and professionalism" of the police officers involved, but said she had consulted colleagues on the decision and they all were in agreement. Speaking after the CPS statement Lord Levy said: "I am sincerely delighted and relieved to put this all behind me."
She added: "Having considered all of the evidence in this case I have decided that there is insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction against any individual for any offence in relation to this matter." He said the decision was a "great relief" and thanked his family, friends and legal team for their support.
Police interviewed 136 people including ex-PM Tony Blair and former Tory leader Michael Howard in the 16-month inquiry. All denied wrongdoing.
Lord Levy, the Labour fundraiser who was one of four people arrested during the inquiry, said in a statement the decision was a "great relief" and thanked his family, friends and legal team for their support.
"For the last 16 months the people closest to me have had to endure the intensity and pressure of this long investigation," he said."For the last 16 months the people closest to me have had to endure the intensity and pressure of this long investigation," he said.
"We are all relieved it is over.""We are all relieved it is over."
But he said, while he did not want to comment on the police investigation, he had been "disappointed by constant leaks to media."
He said they were "misleading, incorrect and personally damaging to me".
Earlier the CPS said there will be no prosecutions over claims that people were nominated for peerages in return for political loans.
Head of the CPS Special Crime Division Ms Dowd paid tribute to the "diligence and professionalism" of the police officers involved, but said she had consulted colleagues on the decision and they all were in agreement.
She added: "Having considered all of the evidence in this case I have decided that there is insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction against any individual for any offence in relation to this matter."