On November 29, Louise Haigh, the British Transport Secretary, announced her resignation. She admitted to mistakenly reporting to the police in 2013 that a work phone had been stolen, leading to her conviction in 2014.
Haigh wrote in her resignation letter to Prime Minister Starmar that she had been robbed in London and provided a stolen property list to the police, which included a work phone. Later, she discovered that the phone was actually still in her home.
“I should have immediately informed my employer. But I didn’t do it right away, which was a mistake. I realize that regardless of the facts of the matter, this issue would inevitably distract our government’s attention from work,” she said.
She mentioned that at the time she was only 24 years old, and the robbery experience was “frightening.”
Emphasizing that not reporting immediately to her employer that the phone was not stolen was “a real mistake, and I did not benefit from it.”
She also said that between reporting to the police and discovering the phone was not stolen, she “obtained another work phone.” When she tried to activate the phone she thought was stolen, it was found by the police, and she was called in for questioning.
“My lawyer advised me not to comment during that interview, and I regret following that advice,” she said.
The police referred the case to the prosecution department, and she was subsequently charged and appeared in a local court in London.
She stated that this time she followed her lawyer’s advice and pleaded guilty, and the judge accepted her statement, giving her the lowest possible penalty.
According to UK media reports, she was charged with “making fraudulent false statements.”
UK media revealed that when she joined Starmar’s shadow cabinet in 2020, she disclosed to him the fact that she had previously pleaded guilty.
Haigh entered the UK parliament in 2015, just a few months after her guilty plea, and became the Transport Secretary after the Labour Party came to power in July this year. She is the first ministerial-level member of the new government to resign.
Prime Minister Starmar stated that as Transport Secretary, she had made “great progress” in re-nationalizing the railway system, saying, “I know you can still make a great contribution in the future.”
Haigh admitted to her past guilty plea after several UK media outlets disclosed the relevant information on Thursday, November 28. However, there are differing opinions on whether her actions were inadvertent.
The Times reported that at the time, Haigh’s employer was the insurance giant Aviva. She had reported several times to the company that her work phone was stolen or missing, prompting an investigation by Aviva.
Three separate sources told Sky News that she filed a false report for personal gain, with two sources claiming she wanted a more modern work phone that was being introduced to colleagues at the time.
The sources also revealed that Haigh had worked as a public policy manager at Aviva, but due to this incident, she lost her job.
Prior to working at Aviva, Haigh had also served as a police officer at the London Metropolitan Police.
(This article references reports from the BBC and Sky News)