British Prime Minister Tony Blair resisted calls to investigate his deputy today after legislators found John Prescott may have broken ethics rules by not immediately declaring his stay at a US tycoon's ranch.
The deputy premier has been under fire for months over an affair with his secretary, his free use of an English country mansion and lately his links with an American billionaire who is hoping to open a casino in London.
Mr Prescott, who has denied wrongdoing over the visit, has resisted pressure to step down.
But his woes have piled up the pressure on Mr Blair, whose popularity after nine years in power has slumped following a series of government scandals over sleaze and mismanagement.
Mr Prescott is accused by opposition politicians of abusing his power to help oil and entertainment mogul Philip Anschutz turn London's Millennium Dome into a giant casino.
Parliamentary ethics watchdog Philip Mawer cleared Mr Prescott of breaking rules for members of parliament by waiting 11 months to disclose a visit to Mr Anschutz's Colorado ranch last year and failing to declare gifts of a Stetson hat and cowboy boots.
A parliamentary committee that reviewed Mr Mawer's report said it would therefore take no action against Mr Prescott. But it also said Mr Prescott may have broken a more restrictive ethics code for cabinet ministers, which only Mr Blair has the power to enforce.
Mr Prescott had failed promptly "to address, as the ministerial code requires, whether the proposed hospitality was on a scale or from a source which might reasonably be thought likely to influence ministerial action," the committee said.
It also suggested changing the rules so that Mr Blair was no longer solely responsible for enforcing his cabinet's compliance with ethics guidelines.
The opposition Conservatives called for Blair to order his own investigation.
"The prime minister cannot ignore the now overwhelming view that by staying at the ranch and accepting the gifts, Mr Prescott breached the (ministerial) code," Conservative MP Hugo Swire said.
Mr Blair's spokesman said the prime minister saw no need for a new inquiry.
"The prime minister believes that is an end of it," he said.