This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . The next check for changes will be
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdxy1kp73y9o
The article has changed 16 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Louise Haigh quits as transport secretary over phone offence | |
| (33 minutes later) | |
| Haigh said she was "sorry" to leave the Cabinet "under these circumstances" | |
| Louise Haigh has resigned as transport secretary after pleading guilty to a criminal offence related to incorrectly telling police that a work mobile phone was stolen in 2013. | Louise Haigh has resigned as transport secretary after pleading guilty to a criminal offence related to incorrectly telling police that a work mobile phone was stolen in 2013. |
| In a letter to Sir Keir Starmer, Haigh said she was “totally committed to our political project” but that it would be "best served by my supporting you from outside government”. | |
| Her resignation is the first from the prime minister's Cabinet and comes a day after she admitted that she told police she had lost her phone in a mugging but later found it had not been taken. | |
| She said it was a "genuine mistake" but had been advised by a lawyer "not to comment" during a police interview. The police then referred the case to the Crown Prosecution Service, she said. | She said it was a "genuine mistake" but had been advised by a lawyer "not to comment" during a police interview. The police then referred the case to the Crown Prosecution Service, she said. |
| She said she pleaded guilty to making a false report to police at a magistrates' court six months before becoming an MP in the 2015 election, and received a discharge - the "lowest possible outcome". | She said she pleaded guilty to making a false report to police at a magistrates' court six months before becoming an MP in the 2015 election, and received a discharge - the "lowest possible outcome". |
| Whitehall sources told the BBC that the transport secretary declared her discharge on appointment to the shadow cabinet when the Labour Party was in opposition. | Whitehall sources told the BBC that the transport secretary declared her discharge on appointment to the shadow cabinet when the Labour Party was in opposition. |
| Sir Keir thanked Haigh for her work to deliver the government’s transport agenda. | |
| In her letter, Haigh said that she appreciated "whatever the facts of the matter" that the issue would "inevitably be a distraction". | |
| Haigh said that her appointment as the “youngest ever” female Cabinet member “remains one of the proudest achievements of my life”. | Haigh said that her appointment as the “youngest ever” female Cabinet member “remains one of the proudest achievements of my life”. |
| “I am sorry to leave under these circumstances, but I take pride in what we have done," she said, adding that she would continue to work for her constituents in Sheffield. | |
| A discharge is a type of conviction where a court finds the person guilty but does not give them a sentence because the offence is considered very minor. | A discharge is a type of conviction where a court finds the person guilty but does not give them a sentence because the offence is considered very minor. |
| Haigh has been the MP for Sheffield Heeley since 2015 and held a number of shadow ministerial and shadow cabinet roles before becoming transport secretary when Labour won the election in July. | |
| Her brief tenure included a row last month after Haigh described P&O Ferries as a "rogue operator" and urged people to boycott the company. | |
| Sir Keir said Haigh's comments were "not the view of the government", while P&O's parent company DP World initially suggested it would not attend a flagship government investment summit. | |
| 'Genuine mistake' | |
| The Times and Sky News first reported on Thursday that Haigh had admitted the offence in 2014. | |
| In a statement in response, Haigh said: “In 2013 I was mugged while on a night out. I was a young woman and the experience was terrifying. | |
| "I reported it to the police and gave them a list of what I believed had been taken - including a work mobile phone that had been issued by my employer. | |
| “Some time later I discovered that the mobile in question had not been taken. In the interim I had been issued with another work phone. | |
| “The original work device being switched on triggered police attention and I was asked to come in for questioning. | |
| "My solicitor advised me not to comment during that interview and I regret following that advice. | |
| “The police referred the matter to the CPS and I appeared before magistrates' court." | |
| She added that under the advice of a solicitor, she pleaded guilty "despite the fact this was a genuine mistake from which I did not make any gain". |