Another One Bites The Dust

British cabinet minister, David Blunkett resigns over new scandal!
The antics of British cabinet minister David Blunkett have been keeping Brits amused for years now. Some call him scandal prone, but the man comes across as more of an industry.
Blunkett entered Parliament for Sheffield Brightside in 1987, is one of very few blind MPs, and was the first to reach the front bench and the Cabinet. Considering not being able to see as simply "an inconvenience" it is obviously his lack of probity which is the real impairment.
So far Blunkett has many to achieve most of the major categories of scandal and corruption. There is sex scandal in their, conflict of interest, abuse of authority, false expenses claims as well as overseeing a looming pensions crisis in the country.
Resigned
Blunkett, announcing his resignation from the cabinet, (November 3, 2005 ) “said that he had reflected on the position and he believed his position to be untenable, and for the sake of both the Prime Minister and the Government he was therefore tendering his resignation which the Prime Minister reluctantly has accepted,"
The latest episode revolves around a series or extra-parliamentary jobs which Blunkett has consistently failed to divulge to the parliament’s oversight committee.
This second resignation from the cabinet almost certainly ends his career in frontline politics.

The Misdeeds

Sex Scandal: In 2004, serving as Home Secretary, David Blunkett, resigned amid accusations that he used his position to fast-track a visa application for his ex-lover's nanny.Blunkett's troubles began in August, when tabloid newspaper The News of the World revealed he was having an affair with a married woman.
She was later named as Kimberly Quinn, the American publisher of The Spectator magazine.
The affair became public after it had ended, Blunkett began legal proceedings to gain access to Mrs Quinn's two-year-old son William, who he claims is his.
As details emerged over the visa application fast tracking, contents of an email were revealed which had used the phrase "no favours but slightly quicker" about processing the application.

Abuse of Power
Blunkett has admitted breaking one of parliament's golden rules by writing on House of Commons stationery to oppose construction near a house he owns. he wrote to Wandsworth Council planners in south London last month objecting to plans to cut down trees and shrubs to build houses near a home he owns.
"As a former resident of Fulwood Walk which abuts Clevedon Lodge, I am deeply concerned about the effect on wildlife, on quiet enjoyment of the area and on the ecology," Blunkett wrote.
Nowhere in the letter does Blunkett mention that he still owns the neighbouring property, and therefore has a personal financial interest in any construction that might take place nearby. His office confirmed that the property is still his.
Blunkett claims that the use of the letterhead was an oversight. He forgot to stress that the letter should be written on plain paper. Regardless of the paper, the letter still stressed the point that he was an influential government minister..

Expenses Claims
Blunkett is also under fire, along with other MPs, for claiming ‘tens of thousands’ of pounds in London accommodation allowances, despite living in free "grace and favour" homes while in the capital.
Work and Pensions Secretary David Blunkett claimed £20,608, almost the maximum "additional costs allowance", in spite of living in the Home Secretary's townhouse in London.Blunkett had breached Commons rules by giving his former lover Kimberly Quinn a government rail warrant worth £179.

Conflicts
Blunkett had been under fire for days, prior to this current resignation, for accepting jobs while out of office, without going through a required procedure for former ministers taking private-sector work.Blunkett admits admit he erred in not consulting an advisory committee before taking up corporate positions following his resignation as Home Secretary last December, despite three letters warning that he should.
Ministers are supposed to consult the advisory committee before taking private sector work within two years of leaving office, although they are not required to take the advice the committee gives them.
While he was out of government, he took a directorship at the firm DNA Bioscience. He was also a paid adviser to the World Organisation for Research and Technology, an international Jewish development charity.
Accusations of a conflict of interest were fueled by the DNA company being poised to bid on government contracts. It was also revealed that the company was not accredited for DNA testing work in Britain and should not have been eligible to seek lucrative testing contracts in Whitehall.

Mistake? A big one!
British media speculated on whether someone capable of, in his own words a "mistake, misunderstanding and misinterpretation" on matters of probity was really fit to hold office. The prime ministers Office replied “the key question was not did or did not Mr. Blunkett make a mistake, but rather, was that mistake such that it stopped him doing his job.” A journalist immediately interjected the observation; "incompetent, corrupt or dishonest".
One of Prime Minister Tony Blair's closest allies, Blunkett has been considered a valuable electoral asset.
Blind boy, risen from the slums to reach high office, is the usual assertion.
The ideal man to put in charge of cuts to disability assistance and pensions. But I wonder if his real value was in deflecting attention from others in the government by his own propensity for personal scandal.