On Friday Mr Hamilton gave evidence to the Neill Committee on Standards in Public Life in London.

"I thought it was a great success," he told the yesterday (Tuesday).

"I felt that for the first time somebody was taking this seriously."

The former Tory minister spoke to the committee of nine members headed by Lord Neill about how he felt allegations of sleaze should be dealt with.

"I gave them a no holds barred account of the way Sir Gordon Downey fell down in his job of investigating the allegations made against me," he said.

In giving his evidence for more than an hour, the former minister used his experience of being accused of accepting cash from Harrods boss Mohammed Al Fayed.

Many of his recommendations about how parliamentary investigation procedures could be fairer relied upon modelling the system on a court of law.

The disgraced former minister wants witnesses to give evidence under oath and in public - not in private as currently practised. And he said the accused deserved the right to cross examine witnesses as well as call other people to testify on their behalf.

In 1997 Commons' procedure denied Mr Hamilton the right to appeal against the findings of Sir Gordon Downey.

That right has now been introduced, but the investigation itself has not been changed.

"I pointed out that it would be far better to concern themselves with the initial procedure to reduce the circumstances when the appeal is necessary," said Mr Hamilton.

A report from the Neill committee detailing their findings is expected to be published later in the year.

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