Category: Radio
Sheffield
Date: 12.12.2004
Printable version
91Èȱ¬ Secretary David Blunkett
has spoken about how his affair with a married woman affected his friends
and personal life.
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He says that whatever happens to him he'll regard it
as his own fault, brought upon him by his own actions.
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Mr Blunkett's comments come in an exclusive documentary
being broadcast on 91Èȱ¬ Radio Sheffield today.
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It was recorded over four months, and before allegations
that he fast tracked the visa application of his former lover's nanny.
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In the hour long At 91Èȱ¬ with the 91Èȱ¬ Secretary,
Sheffield Brightside MP Mr Blunkett talks to presenter Rony Robinson
on his 91Èȱ¬ Local Radio station about the reaction of friends and family
to his affair, which ended earlier this year.
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"They say, looked at from the outside, you've been
a bit of a mug, but we love you," Mr Blunkett says.
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And he adds: "I'm a great believer in responsibility
and consequences and I'm sticking to that, so whatever happens to me
it's my fault, my lookout."
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For three years Mr Blunkett had a secret affair with
the American publisher Kimberly Quinn.
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In the documentary he also makes the cryptic comment:
"I always said, and I still believe it, that I would never be enamoured
by money or glitter, although individuals sometimes shine like gold
and when you rub them and you find that they are not."
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When questioned who or what he is thinking about the
91Èȱ¬ Secretary says simply: "Just life, just life."
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In the documentary he says he's determined to keep any
publicity about his affair to an absolute minimum.
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He says: "I fell in love with someone and they
would not go public and things started to go badly wrong in the summer
and then the News of the World picked up on the story.
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"I tried for three years to make something work
and I have not spoken about it and I don't intend to speak about it.
Even in the biography that is being written about me I have ensured
that there is as little as possible."
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Mr Blunkett has been accused of fast tracking a visa
application for Mrs Quinn's former nanny, an allegation he has always
denied.
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There's no reference to these accusations in the documentary
because it was recorded before the allegations emerged.
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In the documentary he also talks about his political
ambitions, his love of poetry and his dedication to his home city of
Sheffield.
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It will be broadcast today (Sunday 12 December) at 2.00pm
on Radio Sheffield.
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It's presented by the station's Rony Robinson and produced
by Emma Gilliam.
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The interview can be heard on the internet by going
to bbc.co.uk/southyorkshire and then to listen live.
