British culture secretary Tessa Jowell and her husband David Mills are to separate after their marriage was put under "strain" by the controversy over their finances, his lawyer said today.
The announcement was made in a faxed statement to the media by solicitor David Kirk.
In it he said that Ms Jowell was angry and embarrassed by allegations that her husband had taken a bribe from Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Mr Kirk said: "This whole business has imposed a dreadful strain on my client and his marriage. He fully accepts responsibility for these pressures and for the situation into which he put his wife, who he knows is entirely blameless in all of this.
"He is as mortified as she has been angered by the embarrassment he has caused her.
"They hope that over time their relationship can be restored, but, given the current circumstances, they have agreed a period of separation. They ask that the privacy of their children by fully respected."