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Number 10: Minister has not quit Minister quits in Brown protest
(about 5 hours later)
Downing Street sources have told the BBC that minister David Cairns has not informed them he intends to resign. Scotland Office minister David Cairns has resigned from the government, Downing Street has confirmed.
There have been reports the Scotland Office minister is about to quit over Gordon Brown's leadership. The Inverclyde MP, is the first minister to resign since rebel MPs began calling for a leadership contest.
Inverclyde MP Mr Cairns, a former Catholic priest who was elected to Parliament in 2001, became a minister at the Scotland Office in 2007. Earlier Labour's ruling National Executive Committee rejected calls for nomination papers to be sent out to MPs ahead of next week's conference.
Two Labour MPs have been sacked from government jobs and a third quit after calling for a leadership contest. Two MPs have already lost government jobs and a third resigned after saying Gordon Brown should face a challenge.
There have been rumours that three ministers could be considering their positions. A Downing Street spokesman told the BBC: "The prime minister has accepted David Cairn's resignation. The exercise of government demands collective responsibility."
'No intention' Whip sacked
But Downing Street sources say Mr Cairns has not informed them he intends to resign and sources close to Scottish Secretary Des Browne told the BBC Mr Cairns has "no intention of resigning". Mr Cairns, a former Catholic priest who was elected to Parliament in 2001, became a minister at the Scotland Office in 2007.
He used to be a researcher for Siobhain McDonagh, the first member of the government to be sacked in the row. The former assistant whip broke ranks last Friday to call for a challenge to the prime minister. He used to be a researcher for Siobhain McDonagh, the first member of the government to be sacked in the row.
This is the man in charge in very difficult times and nobody better, in my view Margaret Beckett The former assistant whip broke ranks last Friday to call for a challenge to the prime minister.
Later a party vice-chairman, Joan Ryan, was sacked for the same reason and Barry Gardiner, who had been the PM's special envoy on forestry, left the job "by mutual consent" after backing the calls and saying people had stopped listening to Mr Brown. This is the man in charge in very difficult times and nobody better, in my view Margaret Beckett class="" href="/1/hi/uk_politics/7618991.stm">Profile: David Cairns class="" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/nickrobinson/">Read Nick Robinson's blog class="" href="/1/hi/uk_politics/7617984.stm">Labour chiefs block rebel request
Fiona MacTaggart, a former Home Office minister, also joined the calls over the weekend. She told the BBC on Tuesday she did not regret going public: "What it has done is ensured that the leadership of the Labour Party, the cabinet of ministers, realise how serious the position is. A party vice-chairman, Joan Ryan, was then sacked for the same reason and Barry Gardiner, who had been the PM's special envoy on forestry, left the job "by mutual consent" after backing the calls and saying people had stopped listening to Mr Brown.
Mr Cairns, who played a prominent role in the Glasgow East by-election which Labour lost to the SNP and was close to Scottish Secretary Des Browne, who, the BBC understands, had tried to talk him out of resigning.
There have been rumours that other, more junior ministers are also considering resigning in the coming days.
'Ostriches'
Labour MP Stephen Pound said Mr Cairns had been "extremely close" to Ms McDonagh so his resignation had been "suspected for a while". He told the BBC Mr Brown would be "frustrated" at another distraction from his job as PM, of guiding Britain through difficult times.
"Gordon Brown knows what has to come first, the country has to come first and if the party comes second then frankly, so be it," he added.
Former Home Office minister Fiona MacTaggart, another of the rebels, told the BBC earlier that the cabinet should now realise "how serious the position is".
"Previously I'm afraid that they were behaving somewhat like ostriches with their heads in the sand, hoping things would get better and turn up. That is not now possible.""Previously I'm afraid that they were behaving somewhat like ostriches with their heads in the sand, hoping things would get better and turn up. That is not now possible."
The word on the street is that this former catholic priest is examining his conscience as to whether he should stay or go Nick Robinson BBC political editor class="" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/nickrobinson/2008/09/going_going_but.html">Read Nick's thoughts in full But several senior Labour figures have warned their colleagues that a leadership contest could be damaging and voters expected the government to be concentrating on the issues affecting the country - like the turbulence in the financial markets following the collapse of US investment bank Lehman brothers. But several senior Labour figures have warned their colleagues that a leadership contest could be damaging.
Former foreign secretary Margaret Beckett told the BBC: "We're not talking about 'shall we have the luxury of wondering whether this leader or that leader would suit us better', this is the man in charge in very difficult times and nobody better, in my view." They said voters expected the government to be concentrating on the issues affecting the country - like the turbulence in the financial markets following the collapse of US investment bank Lehman brothers.
Cabinet ministers such as Alan Johnson and Harriet Harman rallied round Mr Brown on Tuesday and urged unity in the party.
Former foreign secretary Margaret Beckett told the BBC earlier: "We're not talking about 'shall we have the luxury of wondering whether this leader or that leader would suit us better', this is the man in charge in very difficult times and nobody better, in my view."
And Labour's ruling National Executive Committee also backed the party's general secretary's refusal to send out leadership nomination papers to all Labour MPs ahead of next week's conference.
In a statement issued after the NEC meeting, chair Dianne Hayter said, while in government, a leadership election would only be held if it was requested by a majority of the party conference on a card vote.
She added: "Only Labour MPs can trigger the process and the NEC is confident that most MPs know their responsibilities under the rules."