Blunkett goes to court

David Blunkett's war of words with former lover Kimberly Quinn will spill over into the courts today, heaping further embarrassment on the embattled Home Secretary.

Mr Justice Ernest Ryder will make a statement on the matter in open court at 10am, it emerged late last night.

The first public hearing relating to their dispute will be held in Court 47 of the High Court in London.

It is unclear exactly what he will be ruling on, but sources close to the case said he would be addressing a 'specific issue' relating to the row, which has rumbled on for weeks.

Mr Blunkett is at odds with the 44-year-old magazine publisher, with whom he had a three-year affair, over several matters, including the paternity of her two-year-old son and unborn child, and the granting of a visa to her nanny in May 2003.

Mrs Quinn has told friends that Mr Blunkett fast-tracked the visa application, but the Home Secretary emphatically denies any wrongdoing.

Both Mr Blunkett and Mrs Quinn are known to have been consulting lawyers for several weeks. The Home Secretary has hired top London law firm Bindman & Partners, whose senior solicitors include Katherine Gieve, wife of Mr Blunkett's permanent secretary John Gieve. Magazine publisher Mrs Quinn, who is understood to be listed on court papers under her previous married name of Fortier, is being advised by Mishcon De Reya, best-known as Princess Diana's divorce lawyers.

Mrs Quinn, who is seven months pregnant, is currently in St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, West London, being treated for ' complications' in her pregnancy which her 60-year-old husband Stephen has blamed on stress.

It is not thought that either party will attend today's hearing.

At Westminster, Mr Blunkett's grip on power at the Home Office was looking increasingly shaky yesterday.

He put on a brave face, turning up for the weekly Cabinet meeting then attending the Chancellor's pre-Budget statement in the Commons.

But Westminster was swept by rumours that he is preparing an exit strategy that would allow him to walk away from a 34-year political career with some of his dignity intact.

Government sources said they no longer expect Mr Blunkett to survive as a Cabinet minister and there were signs that preparions were underway for a resignation.

The Prime Minister yesterday reasserted his support for Mr Blunkett and called on critics to wait for the outcome of Sir Alan's inquiry.

But Ministers said the prospect of a drawn-out saga over paternity would be too damaging for the Government in the run-up to the election, expected in May.

They predicted that Mr Blunkett would go voluntarily rather than risk further embarrassment to Mr Blair. 'Nobody is going to force him out,' one source said, 'but if he goes now he gets sympathy and he goes with some dignity.'