Sleaze watchdog says Blair 'failed to live up to promises'

Tony Blair was warned last night that his legacy as Prime Minister would be tainted by sleaze in a parting shot from the public standards watchdog.

Sir Alistair Graham, who is being forced to stand down as chairman of the committee after a series of clashes with Downing Street, accused Mr Blair of failing to live up to his promises to clean up British politics.

Launching his final report as chairman, Sir Alistair said Mr Blair should never have promised to be "purer than pure" unless he was going to "follow through" with action.

Mr Blair is keen to escape the cloud hanging over him because of the police inquiry into loans for peerages allegations when he steps down at the end of June.

Sir Alistair, whose three-year contract is not being renewed, rubbed salt into the wound by sharply contrasting his criticism of the Prime Minister's time in office with praise for the attitude of Mr Blair's likely successor, Gordon Brown.

Sir Alistair said he had held four face-to-face meetings with the Chancellor during the past six months, to discuss how public trust in the political system could be bolstered.

"The fact I've held four meetings in a relatively short period of time does demonstrate that he has some interest in these matters," he said. "My judgement... is that he will introduce some significant changes."

Sir Alistair said Mr Brown could set a "new tone of seriousness about ethical standards" by implementing "radical" changes to the ministerial code of conduct.