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British interior minister to resign: report

LONDON
Tue Jun 2, 2009 8:16am EDT
Britain's Home Secretary Jacqui Smith arrives for the weekly Cabinet meeting in Downing Street in central London June 2, 2009. REUTERS/Toby Melville

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Home Secretary (interior minister) Jacqui Smith is to resign her government post, Sky News reported on Tuesday.

World

A spokeswoman for Smith's office said she could not confirm or deny the report and a spokesman for Prime Minister Gordon Brown's office said the report was "speculation."

Smith's reputation was damaged after a leaked copy of her parliamentary expenses' claim showed she charged taxpayers for the hire of two pornographic movies by her husband.

"It is just speculation," a Downing Street spokesman said. "We are not commenting any further."

Smith, already under investigation over her housing allowance, said in March that she had mistakenly claimed for pay-per-view television when she submitted a bill for her Internet connection.

Two adult films were included in the claim after being ordered by Smith's husband, Richard Timney, while she was away from the family house in Worcester, central England, in April 2008.

Smith's large department at the Home Office oversees the police, counter-terrorism and immigration.

(Reporting by Kate Kelland and Frank Prenesti, editing by Keith Weir and Robert Woodward)



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