David Blunkett

London, Dec. 5: Kimberly Quinn has demanded the right to testify against her former lover David Blunkett in the inquiry into the allegations that he fast-tracked her Filipina nanny?s application for permanent residency in Britain.

Quinn has written to Alan Budd, former treasury official appointed by the British home office to look into Blunkett?s conduct, after the claims against him were revealed in last weekend?s Daily Telegraph.

The letter, dictated from her hospital bed by the seven-months pregnant publisher, requests an opportunity to put her evidence directly to Budd.

It was faxed to him on Friday at Queen?s College, Oxford, where he is provost, and via the home office. Last night a spokesperson for the inquiry indicated Budd would be happy to take evidence from her.

The determination of Quinn to testify in person against Blunkett raises the stakes in the bitter fallout since their three-year affair ended in August.

Quinn is in hospital in a distressed state caused by the trauma of fighting a legal battle with the home secretary over his demand for access to her two-year-old son, William. Blunkett believes William to be his child, based on the results of two DNA tests. He also believes he is the father of Quinn?s unborn child, which is due in February.

Until her intervention, it had been expected in Whitehall that Budd would simply follow a ?paper trail? to discover what Blunkett did or did not do to help Leoncia ?Luz? Casalme, Quinn?s former nanny.

Stephen Quinn said Budd had so far made no attempt to contact his wife, and confirmed: ?She has written to Budd. I?ve said to her that it is singularly important that she does this. It would be disgraceful if he wasn?t interested in her evidence.?

Blunkett?s political survival depends on the outcome of the Budd enquiry.

The Daily Telegraph understands he will admit to Budd that the visa application for permanent residency for Casalme was fast-tracked but deny he personally had anything to do with the speeding-up process. Instead he is likely to try to pin the blame on an ?overzealous? junior official working on Casalme?s application.

A cabinet minister told The Daily Telegraph: ?You cannot have full control of an organisation when parts of it are doing what they think the boss wants, even if they have not been told to.?

Last week, a spokesperson for Blunkett said Quinn had asked Blunkett ?for his advice on whether the application was in good order?. He said the application ?did not go through his (Blunkett?s) office? and that Blunkett simply confirmed the application had been made properly.