Honours report wants end to patronage

LONDON - A parliamentary report into the "cash for honours" scandal will recommend stripping the right to create peers from Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his successors, the Guardian reported on Tuesday.

The report by the Commons Public Administration Committee, due to be published on Wednesday, calls for sweeping changes in the way peerages are awarded in the House of Lords.

Its recommendations follow a 16-month police inquiry into allegations of political corruption which overshadowed former Prime Minister Tony Blair's last months in office.

The probe was launched in March 2006 after allegations that political parties had nominated people for seats in the Lords in return for cash or loans.

However, prosecutors announced in July this year that no one would face any charges.

The Guardian said the committee's report recommends:

-- Removing the prime minister's right to create peers

-- Cutting the "marketable value" of a peerage as a political honour by saying it will not allow the recipient a seat in the Lords

-- Publication of the names of everyone recommended for a peerage, to make the selection process more open

-- Insisting that all peers pay British taxes

-- A new corruption law allowing the prosecution of MPs and Lords for bribery

-- Enhancing the powers of the Electoral Commission so it can act against political parties breaking donation laws.

The committee says Brown could implement its recommendations immediately and urges him to do so.