Blair ignores his own guidelines to keep Blunkett in the Cabinet

Tony Blair abandoned his "purer than pure" approach to ministerial conduct yesterday in an attempt to keep David Blunkett, his close friend and political ally, in the Cabinet.

Despite fresh disclosures that showed Mr Blunkett breached the guidelines for former ministers on five occasions, Downing Street said Mr Blair did not believe the "mistakes" were serious enough to prevent the Work and Pensions Secretary continuing in his post.

The row over Mr Blunkett's business dealings intensified when it emerged that he failed to consult the independent watchdog on appointments for former ministers over a third paid job he took weeks after resigning as Home Secretary last December.

Although Mr Blunkett gave a defiant interview to his local newspaper, the Sheffield Star, insisting he had "done nothing wrong" and would not be forced out of office, there was little support among Labour MPs.

Dr Ian Gibson, the MP for Norwich North, said Mr Blunkett had embarrassed the party and should consider resigning.

"It was a daft thing to do and if it was me, I would think about taking an early bath."

Peter Kilfoyle, the MP for Liverpool Walton, said Mr Blunkett was "damaged and holed below the water-line."

When Mr Blair became Prime Minister in 1997 he attacked the "sleaze" of the Tory years. He promised that his government would uphold the highest standards in public life and ensure ministers were "purer than pure".

In a foreword to the code of conduct for his ministers, he said he would expect them "to work within the spirit and the letter of the code" and uphold the "highest standards of propriety".

Yet Mr Blair effectively set aside the system of self-regulation by ruling that repeated transgressions of the guidelines by Mr Blunkett did not warrant his resignation.

Mr Blair's official spokesman told reporters: "David Blunkett has accepted he made a mistake. The question is, does that mistake stop him doing his job? The Prime Minister's judgment is that it does not."

Mr Blunkett still had Mr Blair's "full support" and the Prime Minister believed he had shown "integrity" in dealing with the questions about his conduct.

But there was fresh embarrassment for Downing Street when it emerged that Mr Blunkett had not informed Mr Blair that he had taken a third paid post without consulting the advisory committee on business appointments.

He became an adviser to the Organisation for Research and Technology, earning between £15,000 and £20,000, in January - before the three-month "quarantine" period on former ministers taking jobs had elapsed.

Mr Blunkett took a similar paid post as an adviser to Indepen Consulting Ltd at the same time - a second breach of the rules.

He committed three further breaches by failing to consult the advisory committee about any of his three paid posts, including the controversial directorship with the biotech company, DNA Biosciences.

Letters released on Monday showed Mr Blunkett was warned three times that he should have consulted a Whitehall advisory committee before taking up business appointments following his departure from government.

Sir Alistair Graham, the chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, said yesterday the letters left no doubt that Mr Blunkett had broken the ministers' code. He said the rules left it up to the Prime Minister to decide how the breach should be dealt with.

Chris Grayling, the Tory shadow leader of the Commons, who has led the questioning of Mr Blunkett's conduct, said he was "astonished" by a further breach of the ministerial code.

"This is getting beyond a joke. There is a danger that the Prime Minister is destroying the credibility of the code. He cannot claim the Ministerial Code is important and fail to act over these breaches."

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, the Tory work and pensions spokesman, said Mr Blunkett had "lost the plot". His poor judgment made him "damaged property" politically.

Mr Blunkett, MP for Sheffield Brightside, told the Sheffield Star: "The Prime Minister has made his decision and no matter what the Conservative Party want, I am not resigning.

"This is a straight political battle with the Conservative Party and their allies in the media and decency. I have done nothing wrong at any stage. I have been transparent about everything I have done."

Labour sources say Mr Blunkett was keen to take up business appointments after resigning as Home Secretary to recoup the high legal bills in the paternity battle over the children of his former lover, Kimberly Quinn.

A leading family solicitor said he would have paid lawyers up to £50,000. Mr Blunkett was represented in court by a leading QC, Peter Jackson, whose fees would be added to those of the solicitors.

From George Jones at The Daily Telegraph