Politics

Transport Secretary Louise Haigh resigns after mobile phone guilty plea ‘mistake’

Transport Secretary Louise Haigh has resigned.

It comes after she admitted she pleaded guilty to an offence connected with incorrectly telling police that a work mobile phone was stolen in 2013.

In a statement on Thursday night, Ms Haigh said she discovered “some time later” that the phone had not been taken.

In her resignation letter this morning, she described it 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”.

She wrote: “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.”

More from UK

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.

Articles You May Like

UK minister caught up in Bangladesh anti-corruption probe
Killing of general will ring alarm bells inside embarrassed Kremlin
High street giants plot new warning to Treasury over retail jobs
Sara Sharif’s father and stepmother jailed for her ‘sadistic’ murder
Oklo targets 12 gigawatts of new nuclear power through agreement with data center operator