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Another minister from British PM's government quits

LONDON: Another member of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's cabinet, Communities Secretary Hazel Blears, said she was resigning Wednesday, making her the fourth to go in 24 hours.Blears said she was stepping down so she could "return to the grassroots" and "help the Labour Party reconnect with the British people" in a statement. "Today I have told the prime minister that I am resigning from the government," she said.The move comes the day before Thursday's elections for the European Parliament and 34 English local councils and amid a rumbling row over MPs' expenses which has badly hit Brown's popularity ratings. It came after Home Secretary Jacqui Smith's aides briefed reporters she would also step down. Cabinet Office minister Tom Watson and children's minister Beverley Hughes are also reportedly stepping down.A reshuffle is expected to take place as early as Friday as he bids to re-launch his premiership and finance minister Alistair Darling and Foreign Secretary David Miliband are among those tipped to be moved.

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