Blunkett faces further allegations that ‘lies’ were told over visa application
Former Home Secretary David Blunkett is facing fresh accusations that “lies” were told about the alleged fast tracking of a visa application for his former lover’s nanny.
Mr Blunkett’s three-year affair with Spectator publisher Kimberly Quinn, 44, ended in acrimony amid the visa allegations which prompted the 57-year-old politician to resign from his ministerial post on Wednesday .
Publishing new details of Sir Alan Budd’s inquiry into the “nannygate” affair last night, The Evening Standard claimed that a “timeline” of events drawn up by Sir Alan directly contradicts the original statements issued by Mr Blunkett’s aides.
The timeline was reportedly agreed with Sir Alan for Mr Blunkett’s use following his dramatic resignation on Wednesday.
Copies of the document, which officials handed to selected broadcasters, reportedly began circulating last night.
Sir Alan’s timeline discloses that Mr Blunkett and his officials acted on a letter warning Mrs Quinn’s nanny, Leona Casalme that she faced a 12-month wait for a visa.
The preliminary report, which will form the basis of Sir Alan’s final judgement on the former Home Secretary’s conduct, contradicts Mr Blunkett’s claim that he simply asked his officials to read Ms Casalme’s application form to him.
The timeline states that it is “probable” that Mr Blunkett’s private office faxed the letter to the Director General of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND).
“This fax has not survived; it was not placed in the file relating to this application. There is therefore, no way of knowing precisely what it asked the recipient to do,” the document says.
Shadow Home Secretary David Davis suggested that the Home Office had been “systematically misleading” the press and public.
“My suspicion is that lies have been told,” The Daily Mail reports Mr Davis as saying, before Sir Alan’s timeline became public.
Last night, a spokesman for Mr Blunkett told journalists there was “nothing new” in the document.
“This document was distributed to journalists by the Home Office on Wednesday and all the key elements were put in the public domain earlier this week in interviews David gave at the time,” the spokesman is quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.
