Resignation honours to be 'sleaze-tested'

Traditionally, the outgoing Premier is allowed complete freedom to recommend friends, loyal servants and aides for honours on the day he leaves Number Ten.

But Mr Blair's list will be vetted in the wake of the cash-for-peerages affair.

Sources said that Downing Street has agreed to let the Lords Appointments Commission scrutinise the list to prove Mr Blair is not cramming the Upper House with wealthy Labour donors and political advisers.

It is a fresh embarrassment for Mr Blair, who has been dogged by the long-running scandal which has seen him questioned twice by police.

The commission is determined to avoid a repeat of the "Lavender List" scandal of 1976 - when the Labour Premier Harold Wilson nominated controversial businessmen.

Among those honoured was the textile millionaire Lord Kagan, who was jailed for fraud four years later, and Sir Eric Miller, the

property millionaire who subsequently shot himself to avoid disgrace.

Those thought likely to be nominated for a peerage are Peter Mandelson, European Trade commissioner and one of the architects of New Labour, and Mr Blair's former "gatekeeper" Anji Hunter.

It emerged yesterday that Mr Blair has been forced to delay publishing the list until the Crown Prosecution Service has taken a decision on whether there will be charges over cash-for-peerages.

This is expected to be well after he steps down on June 27.