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Ministers Grow Impatient With Prescott

Cabinet ministers believe that John Prescott would have to resign his post as deputy prime minister should the parliamentary inquiry that was launched against him draw criticism.

Prescott is being investigated for failing to declare his visit to the Colorado ranch of casino tycoon Philip Anschutz. Anchutz is a bidder for Britain's super casino and Prescott is being accused of breaking ministerial codes.

Allies of the scandalized DPM insisted that he was "very chipper" and "in no mood to quit" and was relieved that no damaging new allegations surfaced in the Sunday newspapers.

But some signs point out that the other minister's patience with Prescott is tethering on the edge.

"If he doesn't go now, it's going to be hell through to August," one cabinet minister predicted.

"I feel very torn. On the one hand you cannot give in to this media frenzy. He can certainly say he is not going to be hounded out of office and he can wait until the Mawer inquiry. But if Mawer criticised him, he will have to go."

Sir Philip Mawer, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, has conducted a full inquiry that could be published on the last day of the parliamentary session on 25 July. Don Foster, the Liberal Democrat MP, has already sent a correspondence to Prime Minister Tony Blair saying he should ask Sir John Bourn, recently appointed to oversee the ministerial code, to investigate if Prescott has indeed broken any Ministerial Codes.

The chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, dubbed "watchdog" Sir Alistair Graham, echoed the request, and warned the PM to to allo political considerations to get in the way of the investigation.

The Wild West cowboy outfit that the casino tycoon gave Prescott as a gift is the latest in a growing line of evidence being dumped against him.

An ally of Mr Prescott said: "John is absolutely firm he has done nothing wrong. There is no evidence to suggest he has done anything wrong. He is certainly not about to quit."