Brown to Purge Cabinet After Expenses Flap

Blears resigns in potentially fatal blow to PM's authority

(NEWSER) - With one day to go before clutch British elections, another minister resigned from Gordon Brown's Cabinet today, dealing the beleaguered PM another devastating blow. Hazel Blears, an arch-Blairite who was exposed for avoiding $21,000 in capital gains tax, refused to praise Brown in her resignation statement. She is the fourth minister to quit in the past 24 hours, reports the Times of London—and if election results are as bad as predicted, Brown could soon be forced from office. More»

Govt's No. 2 claimed 2 houses at same time, may be demoted

(NEWSER) - Britain's ongoing political expenses scandal reached all the way to the second-highest post in government today, after the Telegraph broke news that Chancellor Alistair Darling reportedly expensed the service charge on a South London apartment he was renting out while also claiming allowances on his Downing Street house. Though he denies the allegation, Darling this morning agreed to pay back about $1,500; speculation is growing that he will be demoted in a government reshuffle as soon as Friday. More»

House of Commons speaker Michael Martin steps down

(NEWSER) - The ongoing controversy surrounding British MPs' lavish expenses has claimed its biggest victim: the speaker of the House of Commons. Michael Martin, who presides over the country's main legislative body, will announce his resignation today after losing the support of party leaders, including Gordon Brown—not for cheating on his expenses, but for fighting the release of the expense records that revealed MPs charging taxpayers for everything from bogus mortgages to pornography, reports the Guardian. More»

PM's sister-in-law hits back after fiasco over housekeeping

(NEWSER) - British politicians have endured four days' worth of brutal press coverage after a newspaper published leaked parliamentary expense accounts, which include claims for everything from major home renovations to a Kit Kat bar. Gordon Brown, normally thought of as a frugal preacher's son, expensed $10,000 for cleaning—made payable to his younger brother. In an article for the Guardian, the PM's sister-in-law laments that the Browns' "tediously above board" arrangement has been blown out of proportion. More»

(NEWSER) - UK Home Secretary Jacqui Smith will resign her post, the Times of London reports, in an effort to hang onto her seat in parliament despite the expense scandal swirling around her. Smith has been badly embarrassed by revelations that she had charged taxpayers for her family home, several digital cameras, an iPod, a personal accountant, and, most embarrassingly, five porn movies her husband watched. More»