A slap on the wrist for travel ticket mistake

David Blunkett was dealt a mild rebuke by MPs today for giving Kimberly Quinn first-class rail travel meant for MPs' spouses.

Parliament's anti-sleaze committee upheld a complaint that he was wrong to use his expenses to fund her visit to his weekend home at the height of their three-year affair.

But the former home secretary escaped serious criticism, with his error being put down to a simple misunderstanding of the rules. He said: "It was a genuine mistake."

Crucially for him, he will not have to apologise in the Commons or face punishment.

The report from the standards and privileges committee came out shortly before the Budd report into the more serious "nannygate" affair.

Mr Blunkett has already apologised in writing and repaid the ?179 cost of Mrs Quinn's journey from King's Cross to Doncaster.

In a letter to Standards Commissioner Sir Philip Mawer he said he mistakenly assumed that new Commons rules allowing security passes to be given to girlfriends also applied to travel warrants.

He added: "It had been some considerable time since my divorce and I am afraid this contributed to my being unfamiliar with the procedures. I considered Ms Fortier, as she was then known, to be my partner although she remained married to someone else, given that she was eight months pregnant with my child."

The tickets allegation was among others made by Mrs Quinn in the Sunday Telegraph last month. Extraordinarily, the Commons fees office had not kept records of any such trips and had it not been for Mr Blunkett's own admission, he would not have been found guilty at all.

He said later: "I believe it was the right thing to do, to be open and honest even though the investigation has found that no misdemeanour would otherwise have been identified."

While accepting it was a genuine mistake, the all-party committee noted: "It was Mr Blunkett's responsibility to be aware of the rules of the House relating to spouse travel." The Commons rule book, issued in April 2002, was "clear that only spouses are eligible for free travel".

"The Green Book makes clear that members are personally accountable for the use made of warrants and that they must not be transferred to other persons."

Allegations from Mrs Quinn's camp that other tickets were supplied were dismissed.

Committee members said privately they were not impressed with Mrs Quinn who refused to give evidence to support her allegations and sent her refusal through a firm of solicitors. By contrast, Mr Blunkett was praised for coming clean. One committee member said: "Her deviousness contrasted strongly with Mr Blunkett's openness."

Earlier, an opinion poll showed overwhelming public support for Mr Blunkett. The ICM survey in the Guardian found that 61 per cent of voters would approve of him being brought back into the Cabinet after the next election. Almost half said they "felt sorry" for him.

Moreover, 67 per cent felt he had been doing a good job at the Home Office and 58 per cent thought his resignation would make no difference to Labour's election chances.