Blair is under great pressure after a week of scandals. But he attempted to put a brave face on the matters that have dogged his party a week before local elections. The week has seen bad news for the Blair government nearly every day this week. And it comes after another recent scandal and at least one arrest over the ‘money for peerages’ affair. Job cuts in the NHS culminated in heckling of the Health Minister at a conference this week. And headlines in the Sun berated Patricia Hewitt with lines such as “What planet are you on, Patricia?” Tony Blair quickly stood to the defence of the Health Minister. But no sooner than he had, another revelation hit the news. Charles Clarke was the next target for Fleet Street. The Minister was blamed for the release of 1,023 convicted foreign criminals onto the streets by mistake instead of deporting them after their sentence. Amongst them were five murderers, as well as a number of rapists and paedophiles. But the media frenzy only increased when the Daily Mirror broke with an exclusive on Wednesday which revealed the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, had been involved in an extra-marital affair with his secretary. Any sliver of information was followed up by the tabloids. Sensationalism was the order of the day as many papers were filled with picture specials and ‘kiss and tell’ revelations. One Karon Bolden from Basildon in Essex accused Mr Prescott’s mistress of being a “home-wrecker” and “a man-eater”. Speaking to the Sun newspaper, she revealed that her marriage to former husband Clive was destroyed by Tracey Temple. Tony Blair dismissed the matter saying, “I do regard it as a private matter”. He insisted there were far mare important issues at hand and that Labour’s record on education, the health service and crime fighting were strong. “Are we taking the steps to make the country stronger…Yes” he insisted.
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