French interior minister resigns over daughters” parliament jobs

French Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux says he has tendered his resignation to President Francois Hollande, hours after prosecutors opened a preliminary investigation into the employment of his daughters as parliamentary aides. Le Roux says his daughters worked for their pay and their employment was in line with parliamentary rules, but that he did not […]

French Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux says he has tendered his resignation to President Francois Hollande, hours after prosecutors opened a preliminary investigation into the employment of his daughters as parliamentary aides.

Le Roux says his daughters worked for their pay and their employment was in line with parliamentary rules, but that he did not want the issue to hamper the government’s work.

"The responsibility demanded by the struggle against terrorism, criminality and to gain control of migratory flows means that we cannot leave ourselves open to any exploitation," he said.

It is the second scandal surrounding the employment of family members by French politicians in recent months.

Le Roux has however rejected any comparison with the conservative presidential candidate Francois Fillon, who is under judicial investigation over allegations he gave his wife a fake job as a parliamentary assistant. (DPA)