The owner of Harrods, Mr Mohamed Al Fayed, last night vowed to fight a "perverse" decision by the Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, to reject his application for British citizenship.
He said: "Our politicians are just zombies, those who rule us really are the civil servants. The civil servants tell the ministers what to do."
The Home Office declined to elaborate on the reasons for Mr Straw's decision, beyond confirming that he had not taken into account the critical Department of Trade and Industry report on the Fayed brothers' conduct of the 1985 takeover of Harrods.
In a statement last night, Mr Al Fayed confirmed Mr Straw had rejected his application on two counts - concerning Mr Al Fayed's involvement in the "cash for questions" scandal preceding the last election, and allegations that his staff broke into a safe deposit box at Harrods belonging to his business rival, the late Mr Tiny Rowland.
Explaining his decision to make the reasons public - lest silence "breed feverish and extravagant speculation" - Mr Al Fayed said: "The Home Secretary has accepted my version of events and that my involvement in this matter was very limited. When I did find out about the opening, I failed to take action. It is that failure which the Home Office relies on as one of its two reasons for rejecting my application.".
Mr Al Fayed insisted it was "a simple error of judgment made in the context of a 12-year vendetta against me by Mr Rowland".
Two months ago, Mr Al Fayed's brother, Ali, had his application for citizenship approved. Both applications were originally turned down by then home secretary Mr Michael Howard in 1995.
This prompted a legal challenge as far as the Appeal Court before the Home Office agreed to reconsider the cases.