The wronged husband in a sex scandal that threatens to bring down one of Britain’s most senior cabinet ministers vowed in an interview published on Tuesday to fight for custody of his wife’s child.
Prime Minister Tony Blair has stood behind Home Secretary David Blunkett who faces an inquiry over whether he used his office to help get a visa for his married lover’s nanny.
The divorced, 57-year-old Cabinet Minister had a three-year affair with married American Kimberly Quinn, publisher of the right-wing establishment magazine The Spectator.
After an acrimonious breakup, he has reportedly challenged the paternity of her two-year-old son William and that of her unborn child.
Blunkett says he wants to clear his name of allegations of wrongdoing over the nanny’s visa and was ‘‘saddened’’ that his ex-lover apparently leaked accusations that he acted improperly.
Her husband, Stephen Quinn, publisher of Vogue, told the Daily Telegraph newspaper he is committed to the marriage. ‘‘One should be capable of forgiveness in a marriage,’’ he told the newspaper, which is owned by the same company that employs his wife.