Home Secretary Blunkett in public row over affair allegations

David Blunkett

David Blunkett, the British Home Secretary, has been forced out into the open in the row over his affair with Spectator publisher Kimberly Quinn.

After weeks of official silence over a story that has been trumpeted across the British tabloid press, he spoke out yesterday about his regret over a relationship which has turned so sour so publicly.

Blunkett issued his statement in reaction to a series of allegations apparently emanating from his former lover.

"I am very saddened that someone I cared so deeply for should seek, quite erroneously, to damage my public position," he said. "This cannot be in the interests of any of us. I shall continue to keep my private life private and separate from my public duties."

The most serious allegation against Blunkett, reported in the Sunday Telegraph, is that he used his position to help Quinn's former nanny to obtain permission to live in Britain. In a statement issued by Blunkett's office he denied the allegation, saying that he did no more than check whether the application from Leoncia Casalme was in "good order". The other allegations are that Blunkett:

* Shared confidential information with her, advising her to tell her parents to avoid a United States airport hours before a security scare and telling her in advance about a police raid in Manchester.

* Ordered a policeman to stand guard outside her Mayfair home during a May Day demonstration.

* Gave her a first-class rail ticket assigned to him for his work as an MP and used his government chauffeur to drive her to meet him at his Derbyshire home.

* Put pressure on the US Embassy to issue a temporary passport for her son in 2003.

* Took her to Spain for a wedding with four bodyguards and a driver paid for by the British taxpayer.

Blunkett's spokesman said that any information the Home Secretary shared with Quinn about the Newark and Manchester incidents was "already in the public domain".

He dismissed as "nonsense" that Blunkett had insisted on a policeman being stationed outside Quinn's door for the May Day demo.

He confirmed that Blunkett had given Quinn a rail ticket intended for an MP's spouse in August 2002, at a time when she was eight months pregnant and they were in a close relationship. And he confirmed that Quinn and her son had been given lifts by his chauffeur, but said this happened only when the driver was on official business, picking up or delivering government boxes.

He added: "He did not put any pressure on the American Embassy. She needed a passport quickly for William and he rang the embassy and asked them how to do it."

Blunkett did visit Spain with Quinn, accompanied by bodyguards, the spokesman said. But he added: "Wherever he travels, David goes with bodyguards. She would have paid for her own travel and David paid for his."

One issue on which Blunkett has never commented publicly is the dispute over the paternity of Quinn's two children, William and another who is due to be born in February.

Unofficial sources say he is convinced he is the father of both and wants to be recognised as such. Blunkett is understood to have hired lawyers to contest paternity.

Stephen Quinn, the husband of Kimberly and publisher of Vogue magazine, insisted yesterday that he intended to be father to both children: "I adore my wife and I love William more than I can say."

- INDEPENDENT