Exams scandal UK minister resigns

LONDON, England -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair has lost his second Cabinet member this year after Estelle Morris resigned as education minister.

"Estelle Morris has resigned. The prime minister has accepted her resignation with regret," Downing Street said in a brief statement on Wednesday without giving any further details.

Morris has been severely criticised in recent months over the downgrading of exam results. This week the opposition Conservatives accused of reneging on a 1999 promise to resign if key standards for young people were not met this year. They were not.

Embattled Stephen Byers resigned as transport secretary over a string of rows about his handling of policy.

Government sources denied that Morris had been asked to resign following her recent failure to meet targets set for youngsters' literacy.

The Press Association reported that Blair was said to have full confidence in his education minister until their meeting on Wednesday night, when she announced her resignation.

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