editorial comment Self-righteousness come with a price..... Law and order applies to you too, Sir!

David Blunkett, Britain's home secretary and its chief law-and-order official, resigned Wednesday, after acknowledging that his department had speeded the visa application for his former lover's nanny. But Mr. Blunkett said he had done nothing wrong and predicted he would be cleared by an inquiry into the matter.

The resignation, after weeks of reports about Mr. Blunkett's personal life, is a significant political blow to Prime Minister Tony Blair, who had steadfastly defended Mr. Blunkett and considered him a close ally.

The prime minister is expected to run for re-election next spring and was hoping to use the Home Office, with its emphasis on fighting crime, combating terrorism and overseeing social welfare, as a cornerstone of his campaign.

Mr. Blunkett, who has denied any wrongdoing, said he and Mr. Blair decided on the resignation together, after it became evident the controversy had become all-consuming. "We sort of gave each other a hug," Mr. Blunkett told Channel 4 news.

Mr. Blair praised Mr. Blunkett, saying in a letter that he was a "force for good in British politics."

Charles Clarke, the education secretary, was named Mr. Blunkett's successor.

Calling the past few weeks the worst in his life, Mr. Blunkett said he felt compelled to quit after investigators discovered that a fax and an e-mail message about the nanny's visa application had been routed though his office to immigration officials. The e-mail message referred to the long delay in approving the visa and stated, "No favors, but slightly quicker."

Mr. Blunkett, visibly shaken by the professional and personal turmoil, said Wednesday that he recalled issuing only general instructions about reducing the overall backlog of visa applications. That e-mail message, attached to a memorandum, made its way into the "system," he said, and the system sped up the visa approval.

"Since these issues were first raised, I have always given my honest recollections of the facts, on the record, as I remembered them," he wrote in his resignation statement. "The easy thing would be to hide behind my officials. I will not do such a thing. In no way is my office or any individual within the department to blame for what happened."

Mr. Blunkett's political situation was made worse by the publication of comments made to a biographer, Stephen Pollard, excoriating several of his fellow cabinet ministers. He was quoted as saying that Mr. Clarke had gone "soft" and that Foreign Secretary Jack Straw had left the Home Office in a "giant mess," barbs that eroded his base of support within the Labor Party.

Appearing Wednesday in front of television cameras, Mr. Blunkett seemed shattered by the turn of events.

The story began this summer when Mr. Blunkett, who is 57 and divorced, faced the rancorous end of a three-year affair with Kimberly Quinn, 43, the married American publisher of the magazine The Spectator. Two years ago, Ms. Quinn gave birth to a son, William, whom Mr. Blunkett saw regularly until August, when his relationship with Ms. Quinn ended.

Mr. Blunkett contends the boy is his son and that DNA tests prove it. He is now in family court asking for the right to see the boy. To further complicate matters, Ms. Quinn is seven months pregnant, and Mr. Blunkett says this child is also his.

Then the accusations that he abused his position to speed up the visa hit the newspapers, and more allegations ensued.

Ms. Quinn has been hospitalized for stress and has not commented.

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