British Home Secretary Mr David Blunkett has requested an independent review of allegations that he misused his position to help a former lover.
Mr Blunkett has asked the permanent secretary at the Home Office, Mr John Gieve, to appoint an independent reviewer to look into the handling of a visa application from nanny Ms Leoncia Casalme, following allegations that he intervened in the case to help her employer, his former mistress Ms Kimberly Quinn.
The move followed demands from Conservatives for a judicial inquiry into the accusations, which shadow home secretary Mr David Davis said would be a resigning matter if true.
In a statement Mr Blunkett said: "Trust, plain-speaking and straight talking is something which matters so much to me as a politician and as a man that I have decided, of my own volition, to request an independent review of the allegations that I misused my position in the case of the renewal of a visa application by Leoncia Casalme."
He continued: "I have asked the permanent secretary at the Home Office tomorrow to appoint an appropriate independent reviewer to examine the papers and the handling of this case.
"I regret the time and resources needed to undertake this, but in the light of the flagrant attempt to link my public position with the deeply personal circumstances of my private life, I believe that on this specific occasion, it is right to lay this accusation to rest."
The allegation relating to Ms Casalme's visa was the most serious in a string of claims about Mr Blunkett's behaviour made this morning in the Sunday Telegraph.
The paper quoted an e-mail from Mrs Quinn, publisher of The Spectatormagazine, suggesting he "fast-tracked" an application made by the Filipina nanny for permission to reside permanently in the UK.
Mr Blunkett strenuously denied all the allegations, insisting that he had simply been asked to check over a visa application form to see it was filled in correctly. And he said: "I am very saddened that someone I cared so deeply for should seek, quite erroneously, to damage my public position.
Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair has expressed his "full confidence" in the Home Secretary.
PA