Gay U.K. Cabinet Secretary Resigns

David Laws, who was appointed as chief secretary of the treasury in the United Kingdom just three weeks ago, has stepped down from the position after the Daily Telegraph revealed that he claimed more than $57,000 to live in his partner's house, The Guardian reports.

Parliamentary rules passed in 2006 prevent MPs from "leasing accommodation from ... a partner.

The Daily Telegraph reported the news about Laws's expense reports on Friday and, in doing so, first reported that Laws is gay. In its report the Telegraph wrote that it "was not intending to disclose Mr. Laws's sexuality, but in a statement issued in response to questions from this newspaper, the minister chose to disclose this fact."

In his response to the paper, Laws wrote, "I have been involved in a relationship with James Lundie since around 2001--about two years after first moving in with him. Our relationship has been unknown to both family and friends throughout that time. ... James and I are intensely private people. We made the decision to keep our relationship private and believed that was our right. Clearly that cannot now remain the case."

See video of Laws's resignation below.