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Louise Haigh quits as transport secretary over phone offence Transport secretary Louise Haigh quits over historic fraud
(about 1 hour later)
Haigh said she was "sorry" to leave the Cabinet "under these circumstances"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 quit as transport secretary following details of a past conviction for fraud being revealed.
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”. She has admitted that, a decade ago, she told police she had lost her work mobile phone in a mugging, but later found it had not been taken.
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 was given a conditional discharge, after pleading guilty in court in 2013, before she was an MP.
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. Haigh's is the first resignation from Sir Keir Starmer's government and the 37-year-old said her appointment as the “youngest ever” female Cabinet member “remains one of the proudest achievements of my life”.
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". However, it raises questions over the PM's judgement in appointing someone with a spent conviction to his Cabinet, having previously attacked the Conservatives during the Partygate era, saying "lawbreakers can't be lawmakers".
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. In 2013, Haigh was 24-years-old and working as a public policy manager for the insurance company Aviva.
In her letter, Haigh said that she appreciated "whatever the facts of the matter" that the issue would "inevitably be a distraction". Following reports by Sky and The Times on Thursday, Haigh issued a statement, explaining she made a police report after a "terrifying" mugging in London.
Haigh said that her appointment as the “youngest ever” female Cabinet member “remains one of the proudest achievements of my life”. She said she reported the phone as one of a number of items she believed had been stolen, and was issued with a new work phone.
“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. Some time later, she discovered the handset was still in her house, and she switched it on, which "triggered police attention" and she was called in for questioning.
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. "My solicitor advised me not to comment during that interview and I regret following that advice," she said, and the matter was sent to magistrates.
Sir Keir said Haigh had made “huge strides” as transport secretary to take the rail system back into public ownership, and thanked her for her work. Haigh 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".
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. She added: "Under the advice of my solicitor I pleaded guilty – despite the fact this was a genuine mistake from which I did not make any gain."
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. On Friday she sent her resignation letter to Sir Keir Starmer, saying she did not want to become a distraction and Labour would be "best served by my supporting you from outside government”.
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. In response, Sir Keir said Haigh had made “huge strides” as transport secretary to take the rail system back into public ownership, and thanked her for her work.
'Genuine mistake''Genuine mistake'
The Times and Sky News first reported on Thursday that Haigh had admitted the offence in 2014. Whitehall sources told the BBC that the transport secretary declared her discharge on appointment to the shadow cabinet in 2020, when the Labour Party was in opposition.
She was working for insurance company Aviva at the time of the incident, according to reports. Some are questioning why Sir Keir gave her the job when it seems he had been informed of the specifics of this case when Haigh joined his shadow cabinet.
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. Haigh had been responsible for one of the government's flagship policies in the re-nationalisation of the country's rail network under Great British Rail.
"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. However, she had also been the first cabinet minister the PM had had to publicly rebuke, over remarks about P&O Ferries last month.
“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. Haigh described P&O Ferries as a "rogue operator", last month and urged people to boycott the company, sparking a row with the ferry company's parent operation DP World.
“The original work device being switched on triggered police attention and I was asked to come in for questioning. When they threatened to boycott a major government investment summit in response, Sir Keir pulled suport for her, saying Haigh's comments were "not the view of the government".
"My solicitor advised me not to comment during that interview and I regret following that advice. 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.
“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".
A Conservative Party spokesman said: “Louise Haigh has done the right thing in resigning. It is clear she has failed to behave to the standards expected of an MP".A Conservative Party spokesman said: “Louise Haigh has done the right thing in resigning. It is clear she has failed to behave to the standards expected of an MP".