Report: British minister set to quit gov't

LONDON, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- British Minister of State at the Scotland Office David Cairns is set to leave the government, further weakening Prime Minister Gordon Brown, sources say.

If Cairns departs, it would mark the most senior-level Cabinet member to leave Brown's government as he battles a Labor Party revolt against his leadership, The Daily Telegraph, citing unnamed sources, reported Tuesday.

The revelation comes one day after an unnamed senior minister of state told the BBC that he didn't think Brown was the right man to "lead us to victory" and that he would eventually have to go public with his feelings, the newspaper said.

Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell, considered a possible successor to Brown as Labor Party leader, didn't condemn rebel Labor Party backbenchers calling for Brown's resignation, saying during a debate Monday that they were "entitled to do anything they want to."

Brown was preparing to address a meeting of the Labor National Executive Committee where he was expected to face pressure to allow nomination papers for party leader to be sent out, but Brown supporters told the Telegraph they doubted the rebels had enough political backing to do so.