British Prime Minister Blair refuses to step down over honors scandal

LONDON -- Britain will have to "put up with me for a bit longer," Prime Minister Tony Blair said Friday, a day after police revealed that they questioned him a second time in an investigation into whether political honors such as knighthoods were traded for cash.

The Labour leader last year became the first serving prime minister in British history to be questioned in a criminal investigation -- and there is growing concern in his party about the damaging effect it is having on his government. But Blair said he would not let the inquiry drive him from office.

"I think it would be particularly wrong ... before the inquiry has even run its course and come to any conclusions," Blair told British Broadcasting Corp. radio. "So you will have to put up with me for a bit longer."

Blair has suffered a series of setbacks over the years but his third term has been particularly explosive -- voters angry over his handling of the Iraq war cost his party a significant share of its parliamentary seats in 2005 and pummeled the party a second time in local elections last year. It was that defeat that sparked a party rebellion that ultimately forced Blair to announce he'll resign by September.

In an address planned for Saturday at the Labour Party's National Policy Forum in London, Blair says that the cash-for-honors scandal won't determine how Britons vote in the next elections.

"The fourth election will not be decided by current events," Blair plans to say, according to a text of his speech released in advance. "It will be about whether we have the dynamism, energy, vision and, above all, clear, well thought out policies for Britain's future.

"The biggest danger for us electorally is not in the end what embarrasses us but what makes the country think that on the big challenges the country faces, we only have small answers."

The honors scandal, however, may be Blair's final battle as prime minister.

"I am not going to beg for my character in front of anyone," Blair told the BBC Friday. "People can make up their mind about me, according to what they think about me, but I know what type of person I am. And I am not going to get into a situation where I am pleading for my integrity."

Labor Party chairman Hazel Blears says the probe is having a "corrosive effect" on Blair's government -- and Constitutional Affairs Secretary Harriet Harman says trust has been eroded.

Police are investigating allegations that honors -- including seats in the House of Lords and knighthoods -- were given to individuals who loaned money to the Labor Party or the Conservatives, the main opposition party.

Blair was first questioned last year, and his office revealed Thursday that police interviewed the prime minister for a second time, on Jan. 26, as a witness and not under caution -- meaning it is unlikely he is suspected of committing offenses.

Police said they asked that the interview be kept secret for nearly a week. They did not offer an explanation.

Blair has acknowledged that some supporters who offered loans later were nominated for honors, but has insisted he did nothing wrong. Those candidates had been legitimate selections, allowed under rules to reward supporters for their service to a political party, Blair's office has said.

Blair's chief fundraiser, Lord Levy, and Ruth Turner -- Blair's director of government relations -- were arrested and released after being accused of perverting the course of justice. Sir Christopher Evans, a biotechnology entrepreneur, and Des Smith, a government adviser, were also questioned.

In his BBC interview, Blair declined to answer questions about the police inquiry until it concludes.

"All I would say to members of the public is don't believe everything that is ricocheting around the media in terms of what is supposed to have happened," he said.

Blair added that he remains completely focused on leading the country.

Still, some wonder whether the investigation -- and the possibility that insiders could be charged -- may force him to leave sooner than planned.

The honors scandal "is not so much a fatal issue for Blair, but it is an issue hanging over him. It's overshadowing his final months in office," said Robert Kaye, an academic researcher at the London School of Economics.