Blair: No excuses for prisoner release

Charles Clarke's future as home secretary "depends on what happens" with those foreign prisoners that were released, the prime minister has said.

There were "no excuses" for the release of hundreds of prisoners who were not deported at the end of their sentences, Tony Blair told the News of the World.

"I make no excuses for what happened, it was wrong and shouldn't have happened," he said.

Mr Clarke has faced pressure to quit after admitting his mistake and revealing that five immigrants who had been released from prison had re-offended.

But Mr Blair said he had not accepted Mr Clarke's resignation because the home secretary had tried to resolve the situation.

"He has been acting on it," Mr Blair told the newspaper. "That's where I disagree with people who say he's ignored it - he hasn't."

The prime minister was "totally supportive of the home secretary in resolving the problems that he has been addressing over the last few days", a Downing Street spokesman said.

Around 200 police officers are now involved in operations to track down 79 higher risk offenders. The Home Office would not reveal how many offenders have been found so far.

Speaking on BBC's Sunday AM, transport secretary Alistair Darling also defended Mr Clarke.

"He is a good minister. When something like this goes wrong it's not surprising as he did he thought, 'Well should I consider my position, should I go?'" he said.

"I think the view was that he should carry on, he should sort this out."

More than 1,000 foreign prisoners have been released into the community over the past seven years without being considered for deportation. Nearly 80 of these had been jailed for serious offences.