SCOTLAND YARD is bracing itself for a political backlash amid police concerns that prosecutors might fail to charge anybody as a result of the cash for honours investigation.

They have drawn up contingency plans to protect senior officers in the face of any legal action by some of those they have investigated.

Sources close to the investigation were initially confident that charges would be brought against Lord Levy, Tony Blair’s former fundraiser, and Ruth Turner, the former director of government relations.

Over the past few weeks, however, concerns have grown within Scotland Yard that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) might not bring any charges. A decision by the CPS is expected within the next fortnight. There are signs of increasing confidence among Blair’s former aides that they will be cleared. A senior Whitehall official said: “The Met is preparing for any and all outcomes including the possibility of no charges. But they are not going to sit back and be rubbished and have their work rubbished. They are preparing to protect their reputations.”

The official said there had been high-level meetings at Scotland Yard in the past month to discuss how officers would handle the expected political backlash. “If there are no charges, the public will want to know why not, after all this time and money. They will think the police have messed up. The fact is the police haven’t messed up,” the official said.

The CPS said earlier this month that it had all the evidence it needed to make its decision but it stressed last week that the decision had not yet been made. “The decision has not been taken. That is the position,” said a spokeswoman. She was unable to say when the final announcement on the case would be made. However, lawyers close to the investigation say Levy and Turner are both due to answer bail next week.

A former Downing Street source said: “The police do not seem to have enough, and that became apparent when the prime minister [Blair] was reinterviewed. There is a piece of evidence not in the public domain which is very useful to Lord Levy’s defence.”

A friend of Sir Christopher Evans, the biotech tycoon whom police were also at one stage said to be confident of charging, said: “He has heard nothing and has been presented with no evidence which would suggest he has a case to answer.”

The CPS is expected to meet the police this week for a final run-through of the case. An announcement is expected soon afterwards.

The Met’s specialist crime directorate under Assistant Commissioner John Yates has spent the past 15 months investigating claims that Labour offered peerages to donors in return for secret loans from businessmen.

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