Tony Blair's government was left staggering months from a general election Wednesday night after the prime minister's hard-hitting ally, David Blunkett, resigned as home secretary.
Blunkett's decision anticipated condemnation from the inquiry by a former senior civil servant Sir Alan Budd of his handling of a British residence visa for his then-lover's nanny. Catching Cabinet colleagues by surprise, he decided to fall on his sword only after being told by Sir Alan on Tuesday that a sequence of forgotten, but potentially compromising, faxes and e-mails would not allow him to deliver a clean bill of health.
It was a dramatic end to one of the most tenacious political careers. As a child born blind in a poor home, Blunkett, 57, rose to hold one of the most important and demanding offices in the state -- and lost it for love.
Though the Cabinet's combative education secretary, Charles Clarke, was almost immediately promoted to fill his shoes, members of parliament on all sides in the UK House of Commons were acutely aware that the prime minister had also sustained a blow.
Soon after accepting that Peter Mandelson, now an EU commissioner, could not return to Cabinet for a third time, Blair has lost another close political and personal ally, almost certainly hastening the day when he will hand over power to the present UK finance minister Gordon Brown.
In emotional TV interviews after the news was confirmed shortly before 6pm, Blunkett made clear that he had risked -- and halted -- his career for love. He refused to abandon claims to his putative son by Kimberly Quinn, the American publisher of the London-based Spectator magazine, after she ended their clandestine two-year affair.
Friends of Quinn made charges that he had abused his official position during the doomed affair -- including use of his office car and official transport and, crucially, had helped to fast-track a visa for Quinn's nanny, Leoncia Casalme. Blunkett denied all impropriety.
With evident bitterness he said last night: "I misunderstood what we had. I misunderstood that someone [Mrs Quinn] could do this, not just to me, but to a little one as well" in the couple's fight over paternity and custody of what he called "that little lad" he loved.
In an exchange of letters last night Blair spoke of his great regret and called Blunkett an outstanding minister who had changed the country for the better.
"You leave government with your integrity intact and your achievements acknowledged by all. You are a force for good in British politics and can take great pride in what you have done to improve the lives of people in this country," wrote Blair.
In his own statement Blunkett said he did not remember the crucial fax and e-mails about the visa or dealing with it.
"However, whether or not I asked for any action to be taken is irrelevant to the inference that can be drawn." Refusing to do what he called "the easy thing -- hide behind my officials", he protested his integrity and accepted responsibility.
Though reports that Cabinet colleagues and backbench MPs were withdrawing support three weeks into the drama were exaggerated, Blunkett was looking like a liability, despite his central role in Labour's "security and opportunity" campaign for an election likely to be held this spring. Senior ministers, many of them attacked by an "arrogant" Blunkett in a new biography, were angry with him.
Some MPs, critics of his authoritarian populist style in all parties, were pleased. The manner of Blunkett's dignified departure is likely to boost public respect.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft