Expenses row MP Maria Miller FINALLY resigns
CULTURE Secretary Maria Miller has finally resigned after an ongoing row about her expenses.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, she said the row has become a "distraction from the vital work this Government is doing to turn our country around".
She added: "I will continue to support you and the work of the Government as you move forward.
"Ensuring the best future for the people of Basingstoke has been my priority throughout the last nine years.
"Whether on the front or back benches of the House of Commons I will continue this work."
Responding to her resignation, David Cameron said he was "very sorry" to receive it, adding: "I think it is important to be clear that the Committee on Standards cleared you of the unfounded allegations made against you, a point which has been lost in much of the comment in recent days."
Despite her resignation, the PM also suggested she could even RETURN to the frontbench one day.
Bromsgrove MP Sajid Javid has been announced as her replacement.
A Labour Party spokesperson, described her resignation as "the right thing".
He added: "By resigning she has recognised that the public expect and deserve the highest standards from politicians.
“Labour said all along that you cannot have one rule for a Cabinet minister and one rule for everybody else.
“That it came to this raises questions for David Cameron whose judgement has been found wanting.
"Yet again he has shown himself to be out of touch and a prime minister who only stands up for one of his own".
SHORT: The MPs apology lasted just 32 seconds [PIXEL]
She was blasted after her apology in the House of Commons lasted just 32 seconds, while many thought she should have paid back the £45,000 that was recommended by parliamentary standards commissioner Kathryn Hudson.
That amount was overruled by the cross-party MPs on the standards committee.
Last night, she issued another grovelling apology in an article for her local newspaper, the Basingstoke Gazette.
She admitted she had "let people down" in the way she aproached Kathryn Hudson's probe into her accommodation expenses.
But she insisted the standards committee had dismissed the allegations against her.
PRESS REFORMS: Mrs Miller was responsible for helping usher in Leveson [DANIEL DEME/WENN] She wrote: "I have unreservedly apologised for the way I handled and approached the inquiry.
"I am devastated that this has happened, and that I have let you down."
Earlier in the day, Mrs Miller's parliamentary aide Mary MacLeod took to the airwaves to accuse the press of mounting a "witch hunt" against her boss because of her role in the Leveson press reforms.
In a shouty interview on Sky News, Ms McLeod claimed: "In some of the newspapers it has been like a witch hunt where they don't like the work that Maria has done on Leveson and gay marriage.
"Therefore what they are trying to do is to find a way to get her out of the job."
However, Ms McLeod was herself blasted for glossing over the Culture Secretary's expenses, claiming that all the allegations had been "dismissed", despite a recommendation made to pay back thousands.
Many Tory MPs had offered little or no support to the embattled minister over the past week, with some even declaring outright that she should resign.
Mark Field was among those openly voicing concerns yesterday, saying: "There is this whole public perception here that, rightly or wrongly, the Standards Committee as it is currently constituted is somehow open to being nobbled by senior government members.
"In many ways it is that public perception that is so damaging here. It led to what many people regard to be an unacceptably perfunctory apology from Maria Miller."
Another Conservative, Zac Goldsmith, said: "It would be the Prime Minister's decision who he surrounds himself with.
"I am surprised that Maria Miller hasn't stepped down."
Earlier this week work and pensions minister Esther McVey distanced herself from Mrs Miller, saying "it wouldn't be how I would have made an apology".
In a letter to the Prime Minister, she said the row has become a "distraction from the vital work this Government is doing to turn our country around".
She added: "I will continue to support you and the work of the Government as you move forward.
"Ensuring the best future for the people of Basingstoke has been my priority throughout the last nine years.
"Whether on the front or back benches of the House of Commons I will continue this work."
Responding to her resignation, David Cameron said he was "very sorry" to receive it, adding: "I think it is important to be clear that the Committee on Standards cleared you of the unfounded allegations made against you, a point which has been lost in much of the comment in recent days."
Despite her resignation, the PM also suggested she could even RETURN to the frontbench one day.
Bromsgrove MP Sajid Javid has been announced as her replacement.
A Labour Party spokesperson, described her resignation as "the right thing".
He added: "By resigning she has recognised that the public expect and deserve the highest standards from politicians.
“Labour said all along that you cannot have one rule for a Cabinet minister and one rule for everybody else.
“That it came to this raises questions for David Cameron whose judgement has been found wanting.
"Yet again he has shown himself to be out of touch and a prime minister who only stands up for one of his own".
SHORT: The MPs apology lasted just 32 seconds [PIXEL] Tory Mrs Miller had faced increasing pressure to quit after she was ordered to repay £5,800 in overclaimed mortgage interest.“I will continue to support you and the work of the Government as you move forward”Maria Miller
She was blasted after her apology in the House of Commons lasted just 32 seconds, while many thought she should have paid back the £45,000 that was recommended by parliamentary standards commissioner Kathryn Hudson.
That amount was overruled by the cross-party MPs on the standards committee.
Last night, she issued another grovelling apology in an article for her local newspaper, the Basingstoke Gazette.
She admitted she had "let people down" in the way she aproached Kathryn Hudson's probe into her accommodation expenses.
But she insisted the standards committee had dismissed the allegations against her.
PRESS REFORMS: Mrs Miller was responsible for helping usher in Leveson [DANIEL DEME/WENN] "I am devastated that this has happened, and that I have let you down."
Earlier in the day, Mrs Miller's parliamentary aide Mary MacLeod took to the airwaves to accuse the press of mounting a "witch hunt" against her boss because of her role in the Leveson press reforms.
In a shouty interview on Sky News, Ms McLeod claimed: "In some of the newspapers it has been like a witch hunt where they don't like the work that Maria has done on Leveson and gay marriage.
"Therefore what they are trying to do is to find a way to get her out of the job."
However, Ms McLeod was herself blasted for glossing over the Culture Secretary's expenses, claiming that all the allegations had been "dismissed", despite a recommendation made to pay back thousands.
Many Tory MPs had offered little or no support to the embattled minister over the past week, with some even declaring outright that she should resign.
Mark Field was among those openly voicing concerns yesterday, saying: "There is this whole public perception here that, rightly or wrongly, the Standards Committee as it is currently constituted is somehow open to being nobbled by senior government members.
"In many ways it is that public perception that is so damaging here. It led to what many people regard to be an unacceptably perfunctory apology from Maria Miller."
Another Conservative, Zac Goldsmith, said: "It would be the Prime Minister's decision who he surrounds himself with.
"I am surprised that Maria Miller hasn't stepped down."
Earlier this week work and pensions minister Esther McVey distanced herself from Mrs Miller, saying "it wouldn't be how I would have made an apology".
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