I am not sure what I make of the Blunkett affair, whether he was 'in the know' or whether it really was someone who thought they would do him a favour without his knowledge. I can certainly imagine a situation whereby a civil servant, perhaps wanting to be seen as a good egg or even to mask the slowness of his department, would try to show efficiency when the visa application was for a person known to the Home Secretary. If this was the case then it is so unfair to Blunkett for him to need to resign when he had no control over the situation.

BBC News