BRITAIN: The British Home Office last night intervened in the row over whether the Home Secretary, Mr David Blunkett, helped to speed up a visa application for his married lover's nanny. It said that it was "not unusual" for straightforward applications at that time to be rushed through.
However, the Home Office defence begged as many questions as it answered and left Mr Blunkett still fighting for his political life and waiting for more media revelations about his relationship with Ms Kimberly Quinn.
Civil servants were ordered to draft a statement after the Daily Mail published Home Office letters telling Mrs Quinn's nanny, Ms Leoncia Casalme, that her application for permanent leave to remain in the UK would be processed in 12 months - then, 19 days later, that it had been granted.
The statement said: "The Home Office began charging for processing most immigration applications in August 2003. In the months in advance of that, to be in a position to deliver a good service to applicants when charging began, the Home Office made efforts to process existing applications as quickly as possible. It was not unusual for straightforward cases to be dealt with within a few weeks."
But a letter to Ms Casalme from the Home Office, dated April 23rd, made no mention of the speeding up of claims and said her application was not straightforward. It stated that the waiting period for such cases was 12 months. Nineteen days later, a letter was written to her stating that she had indefinite leave to remain in the UK.
The introduction of charges was announced on July 10th last year, nearly two months after Ms Casalme received her visa. It has not yet been explained how she obtained the visa ahead of the four years she would normally have to spend in the UK to qualify.
Other allegations made at the weekend suggested that civil servants from Mr Blunkett's department took part in private negotiations over the politician's break-up with Mrs Quinn.