UK's Minister of Culture resigned

The British Minister of Culture Maria Miller, responsible for the regulation of media files, delicately resigned on Wednesday from the government, following a controversy about the benefits received as a parliamentarian, says Downing Street.

In a letter addressed to Prime Minister David Cameron, the Conservative minister justified her decision by the fact that the controversy, ongoing since last week, will result in the "diversion of attention from the essential work undertaken by the Government to relaunch the country."

Despite the support shown by David Cameron, the case became embarrassing for the British government, with more than a month and a half before the local and European elections.

An independent inquiry established, in February, that Maria Miller has to return the amount of £45,000 (€55,000), representing the compensation received for a secondary residence in Wimbledon, a neighborhood in south-east London, in which she housed her parents.

A commission, made ​​up mostly of Conservative MPs, cut, on April 3, the amount to be repaid to £5,800 (€7,000).

The minister was criticized for having apologized "too expeditious" to the deputies, and about 180,000 Britons have signed an online petition that asks her to resign if she doesn't repay the improper benefits she received.