UK Transport Minister, Ruth Kelly, a Catholic linked to Opus Dei, will resign after informing Prime Minister Gordon Brown of her religious objections to Government plans to liberalise stem cell research, reports say.Ms Kelly will step down at the next Cabinet reshuffle, which could come as soon as next week, the UK Telegraph reports.
She is understood to have had serious doubts about Mr Brown's leadership, and her decision to quit has reignited speculation about the Prime Minister's future.
However a source close to Miss Kelly insisted her decision was made on purely personal grounds, telling reporters she "thought the time had come to spend more time with her four young children."
But in an attempt to minimise damage from the move, the Prime Minister's office linked her departure to her religious objections to Government plans to liberalise stem cell research.
It was said that Ms Kelly, who is a Catholic, told Gordon Brown she could not reconcile her strict faith with the Government's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill.
Cabinet colleagues were furious in July when the minister was given special permission to miss a key vote on the Bill.
She was told that she would be expected to vote for the legislation when it next came to the Commons.
It is due to return to the Commons next month - and Miss Kelly is thought to feel unable to abide by collective Cabinet responsibility and vote in favour.
She is thought to have been particularly struggling with her conscience over the aspects of the legislation which include embryo research and a possible relaxation of the abortion laws.
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(Source: CTHN)