MP involved in brawl resigns from party

Eric Joyce, the British MP who admitted a partisan physical assault on two Conservatives in a House of Commons bar, resigned Monday from the Labor Party. Joyce in a statement apologized to other members of Parliament for his behavior, The Independent reported. He said he had given Labor leader Ed Miliband a letter of resignation from the party. "Clearly I have a number of personal issues to address and you can be assured that this will take place," he said. Joyce pleaded guilty in magistrate's court last week to four counts of assault and received a probationary sentence. The assault took place in the Strangers Bar in the House of Commons, which was a Labor stronghold when the party was in the majority. Joyce, who said he was "hammered" at the time, head-butted two Conservatives after yelling that the bar was "full of f--king Tories." The Labor Party suspended him immediately after his arrest. Joyce, who spent years in the Black Watch regiment as an enlisted man and officer, has been in Parliament since 2000, representing the district of Falkirk in Scotland. He has told friends he will not resign from Parliament until the next general election, the report said.