The David Blunkett scandal that rocked Britain and occupied a lot of tabloid space got a fresh twist with two newspapers naming an Indian editor as the father of the second child of Kimberley Quinn, the former home secretary’s ex-lover and publisher of the Spectator magazine.Outraged over what he termed as “malicious” reports in two British papers that he had fathered Quinn’s child, M J Akbar, editor of The Asian Age newspaper, has slapped legal notices on them.“Legal notices have been issued to all these papers. We are taking substantive action against anyone who has named me and who has indulged in the malicious, defamatory and false accusation,” Akbar told PTI when asked about the allegation.His lawyer here, Bhadresh Gohil, said notices had been sent yesterday to the Mail On Sunday, Sunday Mail, The Sunday Telegraph and The Sunday Times, asking them to refrain from publishing or printing Akbar’s name. While The Sunday Times and The Sunday Telegraph complied with the notice, the other two publications did not, Gohil said. “Now, we will be issuing proceedings against the two papers for substantial damages, apology and retraction,” he said.Blunkett resigned as home secretary in December after it emerged that he fast-tracked a visa application for Quinn’s nanny. He has been proven by a DNA test to be the father of Quinn’s first child, William, two, and is taking legal action to gain access to the boy. Asked whether he knew Quinn, Akbar said, “She has been a friend and a colleague for long. Of course, I know her.There is absolutely no basis for the allegation.” Akbar also said he was not in London in May last year when Quinn conceived the second baby. “I was busy with the general elections (in India),” he said. This fight is just a new chapter in the long feud between the former home secretary and his ex-lover, the publisher of the right-wing Spectator. Blunkett had a three-year affair with Quinn before it ended in acrimony.Hours after a report yesterday in The Sun, a pro-Labour tabloid, headlined ‘Did Kimberly Have Asian Baby?’, Quinn and her husband Stephen accused Blunkett of leaking information to the media after it was revealed that DNA tests showed Blunkett was not the father of the baby. (With ENS)
