Sir Keir Starmer has chosen not to disclose the “further information” he received regarding Louise Haigh’s phone “theft” conviction, which prompted her resignation as transport secretary.
During Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs), Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch inquired about the new information that led to Ms Haigh stepping down from her position, even though her conviction for falsely reporting a stolen phone to the police in 2014 is now spent.
Last week, Sky News revealed that she admitted to pleading guilty to misleading the police, explaining it was a mistake and had informed about the incident upon her appointment to the shadow cabinet.
Nevertheless, she resigned as transport secretary on Friday due to the emergence of “new information,” according to Downing Street.
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In response to Ms Badenoch’s question, Sir Keir stated: “I’m not going to disclose private conversations. Further information came to light. The transport secretary resigns.”
The Conservative leader accused Sir Keir of knowingly appointing a convicted fraudster as transport secretary and questioned his decision-making process.
She praised Ms Haigh for choosing to resign once new information became known.
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However, Ms Badenoch criticized him for evading questions and allowing a convicted individual to oversee pay raises for public sector employees.
“It appears he failed to question his transport secretary about this,” she remarked in the Commons.
“The reality is that he appointed a cabinet member with a fraud conviction.
“Her initial action was to grant substantial pay increases to her union-related associates. Wasn’t this a deception on the British populace?”
Ms Badenoch was alluding to the 15% pay rise given to train drivers by Labour shortly after taking office in July.
They also implemented above-inflation pay hikes for various public sector employees, such as teachers, many NHS staff, and armed forces personnel.
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Ms Haigh has refrained from confirming if the prime minister was aware of the conviction when he appointed his cabinet in July.
A source informed Sky News political editor Beth Rigby that the narrative that surfaced on Thursday did not align with what Sir Keir had been informed about when appointing Ms Haigh to his shadow cabinet.
Ms Haigh explained that the incident occurred after she was “mugged during an evening out” in 2013.
She reported the event to the authorities and provided a list of missing items, which included a work phone.
She later realized “some time later” that “the phone in question had not been taken.”
In the interim, a new work phone was issued to her. When she activated the initial work device, it “attracted police attention, leading to my interrogation,” she explained.
“My legal counsel advised me to remain silent during the interrogation, a decision I regret following,” she admitted.
“Following my solicitor’s advice, I pleaded guilty, despite this being an inadvertent error that did not result in any personal gain.
“The magistrates accepted my arguments and imposed the lowest possible penalty (a discharge) available.”