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Prescott Escapes Sanction

Prescott has luckily escaped sanction for failing to declare his visit to the ranch of casino tycoon Philip Anschutz.

The deputy prime minister has been the subject of a full Parliamentary investigation after it was made public that he received hospitality from the owner of the Millennium Dome Anschutz, who was also bidding for a super casino license.

The committee for standards and privileges found "shortcomings" that require "urgent attention" within Prescott's department regarding the practice of recording gifts. The advisory prompted the deputy to launch an "urgent" internal review.

The committee let him off the hook for the merit of his eventual registering of the visit, even as late as 11 months after. Prescott was criticized for not appearing to be "fully conversant" with the requirements of both the house and ministerial code especially with his ministerial seniority.

The Prime Minister has been urged by the commission to introduce new provisions to allow independent investigations to take place in relation to complaints of violations in the ministerial code, a call that was backed by the MPs.

This way, investigations of such nature could be independently conducted much as can be done with violations in the Parliamentary code.

The call for an independent investigation on Prescott however, was vetoed by Prime Minister Blair a second time, saying that he has not yet seen any evidence that Prescott has been in breach of the ministerial code over his relationship with Anschutz.