Louise Haigh quits as transport secretary over phone offence

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 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.

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”.

“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.

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 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.

The Times and Sky News first reported on Thursday that Haigh had admitted the offence in 2014.

She was working for insurance company Aviva at the time of the incident, according to reports.

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”.

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”.