TOP NEWS: Louise Haigh resigns as UK transport secretary

(Alliance News) - Louise Haigh has resigned as UK transport secretary after it emerged she ...

Alliance News 29 November, 2024 | 6:55AM
Email Form Facebook Twitter LinkedIn RSS

(Alliance News) - Louise Haigh has resigned as UK transport secretary after it emerged she pleaded guilty to a criminal offence related to incorrectly telling police that a work mobile phone was stolen in 2013.

It is understood the incident was disclosed to Keir Starmer when she joined the shadow cabinet.

In a letter to the prime minister, she said she is "totally committed to our political project" but believes "it will be best served by my supporting you from outside government".

"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," she wrote.

Starmer thanked Haigh for her work to deliver the government's transport agenda.

On Thursday evening, Sky News and the Times newspaper reported that Haigh had admitted an offence in 2014 following the incident. She had reported to police the device was stolen when she was "mugged" in 2013.

Haigh said she discovered "some time later" that the phone had not been taken.

She said the matter was a "genuine mistake" from which she "did not make any gain", and that magistrates gave her the "lowest possible outcome".

Haigh has been Sheffield Heeley MP since 2015 and held a number of shadow ministerial and shadow cabinet roles before becoming Transport Secretary when Labour won the election in July. Before she entered politics she spent time as a special constable.

In her letter to Starmer, she wrote: "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.

"I appreciate that whatever the facts of the matter, this issue will inevitably be a distraction from delivering on the work of this government and the policies to which we are both committed."

By Helen Corbett

Press Association: News

source: PA

Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Email Form Facebook Twitter LinkedIn RSS

About Author

Alliance News

Alliance News provides Morningstar with continuously updating coverage of news affecting listed companies.

© Copyright 2024 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.

Terms of Use        Privacy Policy        Modern Slavery Statement        Cookie Settings        Disclosures