In late August, Health Secretary Felipe Estrella quit after complaining that he was being routinely bypassed by his subordinate, Health Undersecretary Susan Pineda Mercado, who happens to be married to defense secretary Mercado, an old Erap buddy.

CNN: ERAP'S BIG ROLE

Caroline Flint quit as Europe minister complaining she had been used as "window dressing".

BBC: Leaked Brown e-mail 'not hostile'

None of these alternatives appeal to farmers as much as SAWS. British workers are often unreliable: many participants in a trial scheme for the local unemployed in Angus, Scotland, quit after a week, complaining that berry-picking was not for them.

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The Alliance Party and the Ulster Unionists both quit a cross-party working group complaining about the lack of progress.

BBC: Northern Ireland funding 'depends on shared future'