BRITAIN: British Home Secretary Charles Clarke was still battling to save his job last night after confirming that at least five of the foreign prisoners freed without being considered for deportation have re-offended.
At the same time Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott was facing into a nervous weekend, amid speculation at Westminster that the Sunday newspapers could bring fresh revelations about his private life following his admission of an affair with diary secretary Tracey Temple.
Prime Minister Tony Blair and Chancellor Gordon Brown closed ranks behind Mr Prescott yesterday as speculation continued as to whether Mr Blair has the scope for a radical cabinet re-shuffle in the wake of inevitable Labour losses in next Thursday's local elections.
Mr Blair told the Daily Mirror, the newspaper which revealed the deputy prime minister's relationship, that Mr Prescott was "absolutely vital" to the Labour Party and the government.
Moreover, Mr Brown told the London Evening Standard: "John is a great colleague, the person who does so much to bring the Labour movement together. John and [his wife] Pauline are good friends for whom there is great affection and support."
Public support for Mr Prescott was borne out by a BBC Newsnight poll with 57 per cent of those surveyed saying he should not resign over his affair, as opposed to 37 per cent saying he should go.
However, the bad news for Mr Clarke was that an overwhelming 64 per cent said he should resign over the fiasco which saw more than 1,000 foreign prisoners released into the community who could and should have been considered for deportation.
That was before yesterday's late-afternoon statement confirming that the search of police, prison and probation records has to date revealed five cases of individuals released going on to commit further serious offences. One of the five had also been accused of rape but there had been insufficient evidence to mount a prosecution.
Mr Clarke stressed that all 79 prisoners convicted of the most serious offences were and are on the National Police Commuter. Apologising directly to those who had been the victims of further crimes, Mr Clarke insisted: "I believe I have the ability, knowledge and talent to lead the Home Office . . . and that is what I intend to do."
However, Conservative spokesman David Davis insisted Mr Clarke's statement reinforced the need for him to go.
He said the fact that the home secretary had had to initiate deportation action in 63 out of 72 cases demonstrated the magnitude of his failure to protect the public: "When he completes his assessment of the remaining 960 cases it is virtually certain there will be many, many more crimes committed that would not have happened if he and his predecessors had done their job."