Five MPs who are ministers in the government will also resign from the cabinet.

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At a tense meeting between the two men, after Mr Hague's announcement, Lord Cranborne offered to resign from the shadow cabinet.

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Last month Mrs Gillan told a Sunday newspaper she would resign from both the cabinet and the Conservative Party if the scheme went ahead as planned.

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He said Rumsfeld's comments vindicated his decision to resign from his Cabinet job as leader of the House of Commons in protest against the war.

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