British Police Have Questioned Prime Minister Tony Blair For A Second Time

Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair attends a reception at 10 Downing street in London January 31, 2007. British police have questioned Blair for a second time in an investigation into political party funding that has cast a shadow over his final months in office.

London, UK, February 2, 2007 – British police have questioned Prime Minister Tony Blair for a second time in an investigation into political party funding that has cast a shadow over his final months in office.

Blair was questioned as a witness at his Downing Street office last Friday, Blair's spokesman said.

The expanding police investigation alarmed politicians in Blair's Labor Party and risks further tainting the legacy of the party's most successful leader who is due to step down later this year after a decade in office.

In December, he became the first serving British prime minister to be questioned by police in a criminal investigation.

Police are investigating whether the Labor Party and other parties promised lordships -- state honors that come with seats in the unelected upper house of parliament -- in return for loans.

"The prime minister has been interviewed briefly to clarify points emerging from the ongoing investigation," a police statement said. "He was interviewed as a witness, not as a suspect, and cooperated fully."

Blair's meeting with the police last Friday, just before he left to join business and political leaders in Davos, Switzerland, was kept confidential until now at the request of police, Blair's spokesman said.

Blair was not under caution during the interview, which lasted under an hour, the spokesman said. He declined to disclose any details of the meeting.

"EXTRAORDINARY DEVELOPMENT"

The police probe began in March, sparked by a complaint by the Scottish National Party (SNP).

"It's another extraordinary development -- we're in uncharted political waters. It looks as though Blair's house of cards is coming tumbling down," SNP leader Alex Salmond said.

The Labor Party's top fundraiser and a close Blair aide have been arrested in recent weeks on suspicion of obstructing justice, leading opposition politicians to draw parallels with Watergate, the scandal that forced former U.S. President Richard Nixon to resign in 1974.

Police have questioned at least 90 people in the inquiry. All those interrogated have denied any wrongdoing.

Labor politicians said they did not expect the inquiry to force Blair from office sooner than planned. Most expect him to hand over power to his presumed successor, finance minister Gordon Brown, in July.

That could change, however, if close allies are charged.

One Labor parliamentarian said the expanding probe was "completely horrifying". "I can't believe we've got to where we are," said the politician, who declined to be named. "It's causing enormous damage to the party."

She said the Labor Party needed a clean-out: "Only a new leadership will actually remove us from this."

Blair has been tarnished by growing disenchantment with his policies and with the U.S.-led war in Iraq. The police probe compounds his unpopularity.

"It's not a cataclysmic thing. It's a long, slow build-up and it just tars the government," said David Denver, politics professor at Lancaster University.  

Source Reuters

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