David Blunkett: Forced from office

An official anti-sleaze watchdog has stepped up the pressure on Tony Blair to accept reforms to the way in which claims of wrong-doing by ministers are investigated.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Committee on Standards in Public Life said events leading up to the resignation of David Blunkett showed the need for reform.

The prime minister had not accepted all the recommendations laid out in the committee's previous reports on the issue, said the statement.

It said that "the government accepted the case for appointing an independent adviser on ministerial interests, though on different terms to those that the committee proposed".

"We also note that no appointment has been made.

"The government rejected the committee's recommendation to appoint, at the beginning of each parliament, individuals of senior standing to a panel to investigate alleged breaches of the ministerial code.

"The experience of the manifestly ad hoc way in which complaints were investigated against the then-home secretary, suggests that it is time for the government to review its position.

"The convention of revising the Ministerial Code at the beginning of a new parliament will present the government - of whatever party - with an opportunity which should not be missed."

Members of the committee sad there was no dispute that the final say on any ministerial wrong-doing should rest with the prime minister

But say said that an independent mechanism should be put in place for investigating complaints and putting forward the eveidence.

Sir Alan Budd, who was appointed to investigate Blunkett's involvement in the fast tracking of a visa for his lover's nanny, has refuted any suggestion that he failed to act in a thorough and impartial way.

However, different mechanisms would do more to improve public confidence in the system, said the standards committee.

"The Budd inquiry highlighted the need for a clear, well understood, and independent process to establish the facts about an allegation to ensure all parties are treated fairly and issues of legitimate public concern properly addressed," said the statement.