Amongst the many untruths and deceptive statements identified and alluded to by Budd in his report, two key issues jump out. Blunkett’s explanation that his only involvement in backing the application for Kimberly Quinn’s nanny was to check over the form in his private office was originally central to his defence.
It was a lie.
Budd’s report bluntly contradicts that claim and concludes:
“Neither Mr Blunkett nor anyone in his private office was involved in providing the application form, checking it or delivering it to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) in Croydon.”
Blunkett and his spin doctors changed tack altering the story to claim he used the letter only to illustrate the policy issue of processing delays, not to fast-track the Nanny’s particular application. That transparent lie is now proven false. Within two weeks of Blunkett getting the letter she got her passport back with the visa. What was the average time for processing applications for a nanny not working for the Home Secretary’s mistress?
“The average time for processing extended applications for ILR for domestic workers at the time of the application was 172 days.”
So those denials were also lies.
So when Blair said “You leave government with your integrity intact” that wasn’t really true was it? He lied, spinning furiously, misused public funds, and fathered a child by another man’s wife. Only an arrogant deluded politician would claim in the face of that record “I have built my political career and earned the trust of the people I have served through being honest and truthful.”
