Leave her alone, minister is told

The spiralling turmoil of David Blunkett's private life was underlined today amid reports that his lover's doctor has warned him that the row could affect their unborn child.

According to unsourced reports, Kimberly Quinn's doctor has written to Mr Blunkett to ask him to halt a legal bid to win access to her son William and the baby she is carrying.

As the controversy escalated, it was also claimed by friends of Mrs Quinn that the minister inundated her with late-night phone calls during which he played loud music down the phone.

It was alleged that preliminary court action had already been started by Mr Blunkett in an attempt to assert his rights to confirm that the children are his and not those of Mrs Quinn's husband, Stephen.

The Home Office refused to comment on the claims, but they indicated the depth of the bitterness that now exists between the former lovers.

The Evening Standard has also learned that Mr Blunkett was so wary of a controversy that he warned the Whips Office earlier this year about his three-year affair with 44-year-old Mrs Quinn. By the time he told the whips, the affair had ended, he assured them. Mrs Quinn is seven months pregnant and her friends say she has lost nearly two stone and is on the verge of a breakdown over the publicity surrounding the affair.

The American-born publisher of The Spectator magazine has been ordered to go on maternity leave early. She is said to be distraught at Mr Blunkett's demands for fresh DNA tests, which would have full legal status, to prove that he is the father of the unborn child and William, two.

Now her doctor has stepped in, fearing stress-induced prenatal problems could cause a miscarriage, reports say.

One close family friend said: "Her doctor has written to David Blunkett saying he should lay off because of the risk of a miscarriage. She is very sick indeed and has been having prenatal seizures. She is only seven months pregnant - this is very serious. Her doctor is telling Blunkett 'stop the court orders'."

A Home Office spokeswoman pointed out that Mr Blunkett's statement yesterday referred only to the implications for his public duties.

Mr Blunkett's spokesman today dismissed the allegation about playing loud music down the phone as "utter fantasy". He refused to comment on claims that the doctor had sent a letter.