This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk_politics/6908308.stm
The article has changed 19 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| No cash-for-honours charges - CPS | No cash-for-honours charges - CPS |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Prosecutors have said there is not enough evidence to bring charges in the long-running cash-for-honours inquiry. | Prosecutors have said there is not enough evidence to bring charges in the long-running cash-for-honours inquiry. |
| The Crown Prosecution Service has said there will be no prosecutions over claims that people were nominated for peerages in return for political loans. | The Crown Prosecution Service has said there will be no prosecutions over claims that people were nominated for peerages in return for political loans. |
| For the CPS Carmen Dowd said it had been a complex case but there was insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction. | |
| Police interviewed 136 people including ex-PM Tony Blair in the 16-month probe. | Police interviewed 136 people including ex-PM Tony Blair in the 16-month probe. |
| Head of the CPS Special Crime Division Ms Dowd paid tribute to the "diligence and professionalism" of the police officers involved, but said she had consulted colleagues on the decision and they all were in agreement. | |
| She added: "Having considered all of the evidence in this case I have decided that there is insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction against any individual for any offence in relation to this matter." | |
| Police interviewed 136 people including ex-PM Tony Blair and former Tory leader Michael Howard in the 16-month inquiry. All denied wrongdoing. | |
| Lord Levy, the Labour fundraiser who was one of four people arrested during the inquiry, said in a statement the decision was a "great relief" and thanked his family, friends and legal team for their support. | |
| "For the last 16 months the people closest to me have had to endure the intensity and pressure of this long investigation," he said. | |
| "We are all relieved it is over." |