Culture Secretary Maria Miller resigns over expenses inquiry

The Culture Secretary claimed that she had 'become a distraction from the vital work this Government is doing'.

By Dave Lancaster |

09:55 09 April 2014

Maria Miller has resigned from Cabinet amid increasing controversy regarding her response to a parlimentary inquiry into her claims for expenses funded by the taxpayer.

 

Miller was cleared of misusing expenses when she claimed £90,000 for a second home in Wimbledon which she shared with her parents but was forced to repay £5,800 of the expenses she claimed. However, the independent parliamentary commissioner for standards proposed she actually pay back £45,000 before the Commons Standards Committee settled on the smaller amount. 

 

As the debate intensified and spilled into the media, Miller made a quick apology in the Commons which was criticised for seeming brief and ignorant of the wider issues. 

 

The Culture Secretary penned a letter to the Prime Minister which was quoted by the Independent. It read: “It has become clear to me that the present situation has become a distraction from the vital work this Government is doing to turn our country around.” 

 

The letter also said her "immensely proud" she was of her work. 

 

PM David Cameron replied: “I hope that you will be able to return to serving the Government on the frontbench in due course, and am only sad that you are leaving the Government in these circumstances.”

 

Cameron had previously stated: "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."

 

Labour critics blasted the resignation as too little too late, with Labour MP John Mann stating on BBC Radio 4: "My reaction is it's about time too... Maria Miller should have resigned immediately and when she didn't resign, David Cameron should have shown a bit of leadership and he should have sacked her... There is a difference between loyalty and blind loyalty."

 

Miller pens a weekly column for a local newspaper in her constituency. The latest piece for the Basingstoke Gazette addressed the issue: "I am devastated that this has happened, and that I have let you down.

 

"I have been subject to an intense Parliamentary inquiry looking at extensive personal details of my family life, as a result of allegations made by a Labour MP.

 

"That committee has now published its report and I have accepted their findings in full. I have unreservedly apologised for the way I handled and approached the inquiry."