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Blair regime hit by "triple whammy''

Hasan Suroor

LONDON: In what was described as a "triple whammy'' and one of the most embarrassing days for the Blair administration, three senior Cabinet Ministers were facing humiliation on Thursday with Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott admitting to a secret affair with his secretary; the Home Secretary Charles Clarke apologising for a "shocking administrative blunder'', and Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt being booed at a conference.

The three episodes, coming on a single day, prompted comparisons with the last days of the John Major's Tory Government when it was hit by sex scandals and allegations of sleaze and administrative incompetence.

Mr. Prescott (67), was forced to admit that he had a two-year extra-marital affair with an aide, Tracey Temple, after the Daily Mirror disclosed it on Wednesday. In a statement, he said he regretted the relationship and that it had ended "some time ago''. He also said that he had discussed it with his wife Pauline, to whom he had been married for over 40 years, and she was "devastated''.

While MPs raised questions about Mr. Prescott's judgement, Prime Minister Tony Blair's office said it was a "private matter''.

Meanwhile, the Home Secretary faced calls for his resignation after admitting that as a result of administrative failures, hundreds of foreign criminals, including murderers and rapists, were released and allowed to stay in the country rather than deported.

Mr. Clarke apologised for what he admitted was a "shocking state of affairs'' but rejected demands that he should step down. Another of Mr. Blair's high-profile Cabinet Ministers, Ms. Hewitt, was heckled by nurses at a conference in protest against threatened job losses in the National Health Service.

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