Louise Haigh, Transport Secretary in the recently elected Labour Party UK Government, has resigned after admitting she was convicted of fraud 10 years ago.
UK news outlet Sky News revealed on November 28 that she had pleaded guilty to fraud in 2014. Haigh was forced to admit that she was convicted after falsely reporting to police that her mobile phone had been stolen in 2013.
She announced her decision quit her position early on November 29.
According to Sky News, in a letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer regarding the situation, Haigh said the issue would “inevitably be a distraction from delivering on the work of this Government and the policies to which we are committed”.
“As you know, in 2013 I was mugged in London,” she wrote.
“As a 24-year-old woman, the experience was terrifying. In the immediate aftermath, I reported the incident to the police.
“I gave the police a list of my possessions that I believed had been stolen, including my work phone.
“Some time later, I discovered that the handset in question was still in my house.
“I should have immediately informed my employer and not doing so straight away was a mistake.”
Haigh then said that while she was “totally committed to our political project”, she believed “it will be best served by my supporting you from outside government”.
She added: “I am sorry to leave under these circumstances, but I take pride in what we have done.
“I will continue to fight every day for the people of Sheffield Heeley who I was first and foremost elected to represent and to ensure that the rest of our programme is delivered in full.”
Not everyone agreed with Haigh’s version of events.
Three separate sources told Sky News “she made the false report to benefit personally”, with two of the sources alleging she “wanted a more modern work handset that was being rolled out to her colleagues at the time”. Haigh denied this, saying she had made “no personal gain”.
Haigh reportedly had been working as a public policy manager at insurance giant Aviva but two sources told the broadcaster she lost her job at the firm because of the incident.
Her case appeared before the court six months ahead of the 2015 general election.
In his reply to the letter, Starmer expressed gratitude to Haigh for her work in the government and said: “I know you still have a huge contribution to make in the future.”
The letters were made public early on November 29 but were dated November 28.
Haigh had already had been in the eye of a political storm over calls she made in October to boycott P&O Ferries following the mass lay-off of hundreds of employees, which resulted in the temporary cancellation of a £1 billion investment. Starmer gave her a public reprimand over the issue.
The PM has emerged weakened by the debacle, as he was aware of the facts regarding the minister — a point Haigh apparently underscored in her letter, writing, “as you know.”
Starmer had said on X in May 2022: “You can’t be a lawmaker and a lawbreaker,” referring to the “Partygate” scandal when the then-ruling Conservatives were exposed as not following the rules they imposed on the public during the Covid pandemic in 2020.
Questions about Starmer’s judgement
If the conviction was unacceptable to him why did he appoint Haigh to ShadCab after she told him about it?
If it was declared to Proprietary & Ethics on her appointment to Cabinet (must have been), why is he throwing her under the bus now?
— James Cleverly🇬🇧 (@JamesCleverly) November 29, 2024
Conservative Party Chairman Nigel Huddleston told Sky News the revelations are “extremely concerning”.
“Keir Starmer has serious questions to answer regarding what he knew and when about the person he appointed as transport secretary, admitting to having misled the police.”
Conservatives have questions about why Starmer gave Haigh the responsibility over a cabinet with a £30 billion budget, alleging he made a failure of judgment.
As the youngest member of the cabinet, Haigh, 37, spearheaded a Socialist transport programme that included renationalising rail and returning buses to the public sector.
Her departure is viewed as a setback for the UK government, whose popularity in the polls plummeted after taking office.
A recently launched petition demanding a new general election in the UK has gained a lot of traction and is close to reaching 3 million signatures.
A recently launched petition demanding a new general election in the UK has gained traction after being retweeted by US tech mogul Elon Musk. https://t.co/nSKPMYhlPF
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) November 25, 2024
