Transport secretary Louise Haigh quits after fraud offence revealed

“My solicitor advised me not to comment during that interview and I regret following that advice,” she said. The matter was sent to magistrates.

Haigh said she pleaded guilty to making a false report to police at a magistrates’ court, six months before becoming an MP in the 2015 general election, and received a discharge – the “lowest possible outcome”.

She added: “Under the advice of my solicitor I pleaded guilty – despite the fact this was a genuine mistake from which I did not make any gain.”

But The Times claims this row relates to more than one mobile phone being stolen or going missing.

Haigh’s team have not denied this but have not been drawn on it either.

On Friday, Haigh sent a resignation letter, external to Sir Keir, saying she did not want to become a distraction and Labour would be “best served by my supporting you from outside government”.

In response, 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.

Whitehall sources told the BBC the transport secretary declared her discharge on appointment to the shadow cabinet in 2020, when the Labour Party was in opposition.

Some are questioning why Sir Keir gave her the job when it appears he had been informed of the specifics of this case when Haigh joined his shadow cabinet.

Haigh was responsible for one of the government’s flagship policies, the re-nationalisation of the country’s rail network under Great British Rail.

However, she was also the first cabinet minister the PM publicly rebuked, over remarks about P&O Ferries last month.

Haigh described P&O Ferries as a “rogue operator” and urged people to boycott the company, sparking a row with the ferry company’s parent operation DP World.

When it threatened to boycott a major investment summit in response, Sir Keir said Haigh’s comments were “not the view of the government”.