BRITAIN: British prime minister Tony Blair came under renewed pressure last night to strengthen the code which governs the conduct of ministers after his deputy, John Prescott, was criticised by a parliamentary watchdog investigation.
The inquiry said Mr Prescott was not sufficiently sensitive to charges that taking hospitality from a rich American would expose him to claims of conflict of interest.
MPs on the House of Commons standards and privileges committee (SPC) joined other critics in urging Mr Blair to tighten the ministerial code on declarations of gifts and interests.
He was also asked to introduce "an independent element" into investigations of alleged breaches of the code.
Despite concern about his judgment, Mr Prescott was not instructed yesterday to apologise to the Commons for his failure to declare a two-day visit he made with officials to the Colorado ranch of Republican billionaire Philip Anschutz a year ago.
Mr Anschutz is a member of a consortium hoping to develop the Millennium Dome as a casino, as part of a regeneration project in Greenwich, south London.
Mr Prescott had been given the go-ahead by his own departmental permanent secretary to take the weekend break during an official US tour.
But after the controversy erupted earlier this month, he was told by the cabinet secretary, Sir Gus O'Donnell, that he should have recorded the hospitality in the register of MPs' interests.
"A robust Sir Humphrey [ a senior civil servant] would have said 'there's no technical reason not to stay there, minister, but do you think it wise?'" one former Tory cabinet minister said yesterday.
Mr Prescott had dinner and the next day - after Mr Anschutz had gone - rode round the ranch. At no point was the Greenwich casino bid discussed.
The SPC yesterday upheld the report of the parliamentary commissioner for standards, Sir Philip Mawer, which suggested that Mr Prescott might have been wiser not to take Mr Anschutz's hospitality and "acted correctly" when he registered it, "albeit some 11 months late" when the story broke.