By Prasun Sonwalkar, London, July 16 (IANS) Two businessmen of Indian origin are among four individuals at the centre of a cash-for-peerage row that could result in the police questioning British Prime Minister Tony Blair as part of an investigation into the controversy.

The two businessmen are Sir Gulam Noon, also known as 'Curry King' for his large business in Indian food, and Chai Patel, chief executive of up-market Priory Clinics. Both had donated large sums to the ruling Labour party and had then been nominated to the House of Lords.

The other two businessmen, who had donated money to the party and were also nominated, are Barry Townsley, a stockbroker, and Sir David Garrard, a property developer.

Their appointment, however, was blocked following an investigation by the House of Lords Appointments Commission when their donations to the party were revealed. Their donations had been converted into loans as per rules introduced by Blair.

Peers nominated by political parties are vetted by the House of Lords Appointments Commission for their propriety, not their suitability. The commission can raise concerns but the prime minister has the final say.

The row has severely embarrassed Blair with media commentators and political rivals mockingly reminding him of his 1997 pledge that his government would be 'whiter than white'. The media has gone to town listing several events since 1997 that suggest that his government has been anything but 'whiter than white'.

Scotland Yard has been investigating the row and has already arrested Lord Levy, the Labour party's chief fund-raiser, who allegedly asked Sir Noon not to declare his loan of £250,000 ($ 459,052) to the party in the nomination papers.

Lord Levy is one of Blair's closest advisers, and is also the British government's Middle East envoy. The police have also quizzed Science minister Lord Sainsbury and Trade minister Ian McCartney.

Blair himself is likely to be questioned by the police in August, before the Labour party's annual conference on September 28.

At a news conference last week, Blair was asked if he was able to do his job with the 'police knocking on your door'. He refused to respond to the question.

Blair is expected to be questioned about what he knew of the allegations that millionaires were nominated for peerages in return for making massive loans to the party in the run up to the general election last year.

The last British prime minister to be questioned in a corruption inquiry was David Lloyd George in the 1920s.

The Honours (Prevention of Abuses) Act, 1925, under which Lord Levy was arrested, was enacted after a scandal in the early 1920s, when Lloyd George offered peerages and other honours at a price.

It used to be said during Lloyd George's tenure that anyone could buy a barony for £50,000 ($91,810), a baronetcy for £25,000 ($45,905), or a knighthood for £15,000 ($27,543). He ensured that the scam did not become public knowledge by conferring titles on newspaper owners.

Meanwhile, a YouGov survey reveals that the people now regard Blair's government as sleazier than the John Major government. The survey says that 69 percent of the public regard Labour as "very sleazy and disreputable", compared with 63 percent of voters, who thought the same of the last Conservative government.

The cash-for-peerages row has renewed calls within the Labour party that it is time for Blair to step down or at least announce the time of his stepping down. Chancellor Gordon Brown is widely expected to take over from Blair.

Former Labour deputy leader Lord Hattersley called on Blair to quit as prime minister in September. Any tenure in Downing Street beyond this year's Labour conference in September, he said, would damage the party.