Transport Secretary Louise Haigh resigns after Sky News revealed mobile phone guilty plea
Transport Secretary Louise Haigh has resigned after it emerged she pleaded guilty to an offence related to incorrectly telling police that a work mobile phone was stolen in 2013.
In a letter to the prime minister, she described the incident as a “mistake” but said that “whatever the facts of the matter, this issue will inevitably be a distraction from delivering on the work of this government”.
It comes after Sky News revealed details of the offence last night, with Ms Haigh saying in a statement she believed her phone had been stolen after she was “mugged on a night out” but later discovered this was not the case.
She alluded to Sir Keir knowing about this in her resignation letter, telling him: “As you know, in 2013 I was mugged in London. 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.”
Ms Haigh then said that while she is “totally committed to our political project,” she believes “it will be best served by my supporting you from outside government”.
The MP for Sheffield Heeley 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.”
‘Questions’ for Starmer
In response, Sir Keir Starmer thanked Ms Haigh for “all you have done to deliver this government’s ambitious transport agenda” and said: “I know you still have a huge contribution to make in the future.”
The letters were dated yesterday, 28th November, but only made public this morning.
A Conservative Party spokesman said Ms Haigh has “done the right thing in resigning”.
They said the incident “raises questions as to why the prime minister appointed Ms Haigh to Cabinet with responsibility for a £30bn budget”.
“The onus is now on Keir Starmer to explain this obvious failure of judgement to the British public,” they added.
The straightforward reason for Louise Haigh’s rapid resignation
While government sources insist this resignation was Louise Haigh’s decision, the political weather around the now former transport secretary always made walking from her job a potential outcome.
As well as being the first cabinet minister to resign, Ms Haigh was also the first cabinet minister to be publicly rebuked by Sir Keir Starmer.
That was over calls she made to boycott P&O ferries after the mass sacking of hundreds of workers, comments that led to a £1bn investment being temporarily shelved.
Hailing from the left of Labour, the Sheffield MP also has connections with former Downing Street chief of staff Sue Gray.
But with a new team now in place at the top of Number 10 – some had already been speculating about her future in government.
The ultimate trigger for this resignation is likely more straightforward though.
In 2022, speaking about the partygate scandal, Sir Keir Starmer said “you can’t be a lawmaker and a lawbreaker”.
This appears to show what that mantra looks like when transplanted into the realities of government.
Conviction just before 2015 election
Sky News understands Ms Haigh appeared at Camberwell Green Magistrates’ Court six months before the 2015 general election, after making a false report to officers that her mobile phone had been stolen.
It’s understood her conviction is now classified as ‘spent’.
Three separate sources claimed to Sky News that 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.
The outgoing cabinet minister had been working as a public policy manager at Aviva, but two sources said she lost her job at the insurance firm because of the incident.
The offence was disclosed in full when Ms Haigh was appointed to Sir Keir’s shadow cabinet, Sky News understands.
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Minister admits offence over ‘stolen’ phone
‘Genuine mistake’
In her statement last night, Ms Haigh called the incident a “genuine mistake from which I did not make any gain”.
She said she had been “issued with another work phone” in the interim between making the police report and discovering it had not been stolen, and was called in for questioning when the original device was switched on, which “triggered police attention”.
“My solicitor advised me not to comment during that interview and I regret following that advice,” she said.
“The police referred the matter to the CPS and I appeared before Southwark magistrates.”
Ms Haigh continued: “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.
“The magistrates accepted all of these arguments and gave me the lowest possible outcome (a discharge) available.”
Pic: Louise Haigh was a special constable from 2009-2011
Career in Met before politics
As transport secretary, Ms Haigh appointed members of the board that oversees the British Transport Police.
Before entering politics, the MP was a special constable in the Metropolitan Police – serving between 2009 and 2011 in the South London Borough of Lambeth, close to where she was convicted several years later.
She was appointed shadow policing minister by Jeremy Corbyn in 2017 and frequently drew on her experience in the Met when challenging the Tory government on the rising demands on officers.
Sir Keir promoted the MP to shadow Northern Ireland secretary in 2020 before moving her to shadow transport secretary in 2021.
UK
Heidi Alexander named new transport secretary after Louise Haigh’s resignation over mobile phone guilty plea
The first vote on the assisted dying bill is not only hugely consequential, it’s also hugely unpredictable and even as the vote draws near it still feels like it could go either way.
MPs will debate the bill, brought forward by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, in parliament today before they get a free vote on the legislation.
There are a few reasons why the potential outcome of the vote is difficult to predict. Firstly, the last Commons vote on this issue was back in 2015. It was also a Private Members’ Bill and a free vote, that was defeated by 331 to 119 – 199 MPs didn’t vote and one abstained.
That may seem like a useful starting point to predict future results but there has been an unprecedented turnover of MPs since then.
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It was less than a decade ago but over two-thirds of those MPs from 2015 are no longer in parliament. This means there’s no voting record that can help us out this time round.
Secondly, it’s a free vote so we can’t, as we usually would, look to the political parties to work out the numbers.
Every single one of the 650 MPs must make up their minds for themselves and they have all taken a slightly different approach to the process.
How MPs have told Sky News they will vote on assisted dying
Some came out straight away and declared their position publicly. Some took their time and have only decided in the last few days, putting out statements on social media platforms.
There are also those who prefer to keep it to themselves, and some who are genuinely still undecided and will be until they walk through the voting lobbies.
So, to get a sense of what could happen, at Sky News we have been monitoring declarations as well as reaching out to every MP personally.
This has given us, on the eve of the second reading, an informative but still incomplete picture.
So far we have confirmed that 181 MPs will vote for the bill, while 148 say they will vote against, and 300 are either undecided or haven’t revealed their decision.
There are also 20 MPs that won’t vote – the SNP because the changes won’t apply in Scotland, Sinn Fein who don’t sit in Westminster, and the Speaker and Deputy Speakers.
Of those who will vote but whose position is still unknown, about two-thirds are Labour MPs – a big chunk of those are brand new.
This is the deciding cohort, who just a few months into their roles will make a life-or-death decision that will influence generations to come – no pressure.
Ms Leadbeater has said she hopes parliament will “show itself at its best” by voting in favour of the bill.
In a statement on Thursday night, she said: “I hope this parliament will also be remembered for this major social reform that gives people autonomy over the end of their lives and puts right an injustice that has been left on the statute books for far too long.
“People will be looking in on parliament as it debates this important change to the law – a change that, when we most need it, could bring comfort to any one of us or to somebody we love.”
Read more on assisted dying:
Analysis: Bill could be wrecked by dirty tricks
Five stories that bring the assisted dying debate home
David Cameron comes out in support of bill
How MPs are making up their minds
What does the bill propose?
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Lord Cameron to support assisted dying bill
What could make the difference?
Most MPs tell us they have been poring over the legislation line-by-line and listening intently to their constituents.
But beyond that, there are external factors that will no doubt have influenced their thinking.
Public opinion will be high on the list, with the latest YouGov poll – one of many – showing an overwhelming majority (73%) of the public are in favour of a change in the law.
The other will be how Cabinet ministers vote, with many high profile and respected names, Ed Miliband and Hilary Benn among them, coming out in favour.
MPs will vote in the House of Commons on the bill
More controversial though are those who oppose the bill.
In particular, the Health Secretary Wes Streeting and the Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood have made the news with their views.
They will both have to take a leading role in implementing the legislation if it passes.
Mr Streeting shocked Westminster when he revealed he had changed his mind after voting for the 2015 version.
He also ruffled feathers among colleagues when he appeared to breach the etiquette around free votes, by repeatedly raising concerns around extra pressures on the NHS and making the case for improving palliative care instead.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting changed his mind on the issue. Pic: PA
Mr Streeting’s position and approach have made the bill’s supporters nervous that new MPs will fall in behind him.
In contrast, other big beasts – the prime minister, the chancellor and the foreign secretary – remain silent on which way they will go, aware that their opinions could sway the result.
As it stands, after all the number crunching, it looks likely that this landmark legislation will pass the second reading.
But with so many unknowns, both sides will feel that even at this late stage, it’s still impossible to call.
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