Prescott's conduct under scrutiny

Ms Temple, pictured with Mr Prescott in 2001

John Prescott is facing questions over whether his affair with a civil servant may have breached the ministerial code.

The deputy PM said he "acted stupidly" over his relationship with Tracey Temple but questioned her accounts.

The chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life said it was now up to Tony Blair to decide if Mr Prescott will "pay a political price".

Sir Alistair Graham said the PM needed to consider if Mr Prescott's private life had affected his public duties.

His comments came after the deputy prime minister hit back at claims made by his former diary secretary in the Mail on Sunday newspaper.

Showing no signs he intended to resign from the government, Mr Prescott issued a statement in which he admitted he had had "intimate relations" with Ms Temple.

Having sexual relations on civil service premises during working hours would seem to me prima facie to raise an issue about conduct Sir Alistair Graham

But he said "much of her recollections in the Mail on Sunday are simply untrue and are clearly motivated by a desire to maximise financial gain".

Ms Temple, who was paid in excess of £100,000 for her story, said she felt she was used as a "scapegoat" and wanted to set the record straight as she had been "misrepresented".

Sir Alistair told the BBC it was for Mr Blair to judge if his deputy had failed to uphold "the highest standards of constitutional and personal conduct".

"The central issue is whether his private life, in terms of his affair with the civil servant, crossed over into affecting the performance of his duties. Did he in any way undermine the impartiality of the civil servant in carrying out her duties?"

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He went on: "If a general perception is that these have been standards of conduct that are not acceptable for ministers of the crown then, of course, he will pay a political price."

Sir Alistair added: "There are different versions of what has taken place and I have no idea exactly what the truth of the matter is. But having sexual relations on civil service premises during working hours would seem to me prima facie to raise an issue about conduct."

Derek Conway - the Tory MP leading demands for a standards probe into the affair - says claims made by Ms Temple she had been transported in official cars after liaisons should also be investigated.

Mr Blair has refused to discuss the affair saying it was "a private matter".

But former Deputy Prime Minister Lord Heseltine told Sunday Live on Sky News: "It is legitimate to say that a private affair is private, but we are not talking about the affair, we are talking about the behaviour of the deputy prime minister.

"You simply cannot have a senior member of a government bringing that government into ridicule and contempt by the way in which that person behaves. That is what has happened."

Transport Secretary Alistair Darling acknowledged it had been a "pretty bad" week for the government, with Home Secretary Charles Clarke fighting off calls to resign over revelations about the release of foreign prisoners and after Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt was booed by nurses at a conference.

"Each one of these things on their own is bad, the bringing of together all three together is very bad for the government," he told BBC One's Sunday AM.

'Major intrusion'

Mr Prescott said he intended going to the Press Complaints Commission over the way the story had been handled.

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"It is totally unacceptable for the Mail on Sunday and other newspapers to trawl through a long list of people - some hardly known to me - ex-staff members, family and friends, offering large amounts of money to make allegations without substance," he said.

"These papers' actions have caused great concern to the people approached, with major intrusions into their family lives."

He continued: "I admit that I have acted stupidly and caused great distress to my wife and family. Pauline and I would now like to request the media to give us the privacy space and time to allow us to try to re build our marriage," he said.

'Abandoned'

Ms Temple told the Mail on Sunday she felt abandoned by Mr Prescott when news of the affair came out and had received just one phone call from her ex-lover.

"I feel I have been used and am being used as a scapegoat. They have abandoned me and hung me out to dry," she said.

She told the newspaper she had regular sexual encounters with Mr Prescott in his office with the door open while other civil servants worked outside.

They also had sexual encounters in the Mr Prescott's tax-payer funded flat in Admiralty Arch and in the Admiralty Boardroom, she said.

The pair were "lucky" to not have been caught, she added.

In a video statement released on Saturday night, a tearful Ms Temple said: "I felt I needed to tell my side of the story and let people know the truth."