Defence chief quits over affair with wife of former Tory MP

NEWSPAPER revelations about the private lives of public figures claimed

another victim last night with the resignation of Sir Peter Harding, the Chief of the Defence Staff, writes Patricia Wynn Davies.

Malcolm Rifkind, Secretary of State for Defence, accepted his resignation after allegations of an affair with the wife of a former Tory defence minister appeared in the News of the World.

Sir Antony Buck, 65, former Conservative MP for Colchester North, whose ex- wife Bienvenida, 33, had what he termed a 'very intimate relationship' with Sir Peter, spoke of a tragic loss of a brilliant officer. 'But given the background you cannot expect me to be overwhelmed with grief.' The disclosures about Sir Peter, who is 60 and married, come after the furore over the Government's 'back to basics' policy. During Sir Peter's tenure of Britain's most senior service post, the military launched its own code, warning married officers and men against affairs.

One official said: 'How could he continue when on the one hand he was calling for better standards of personal behaviour while on the other he was having this affair?'

Sir Antony, 65, a former Navy minister, retired from the Commons at the last general election. His marriage in 1990 to Bienvenida Perez-Blanco ended in

September.

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