LONDON (AP) — British Delivery Minister Louise Haigh resigned on Friday over a decade-old fraud conviction for claiming her cell phone have been stolen.In a letter to High Minister Keir Starmer, Haigh mentioned, “I stay completely dedicated to our political undertaking, however I now imagine it is going to be perfect served by means of my supporting you from out of doors govt.“I admire that regardless of the information of the topic, this factor will inevitably be a distraction from handing over at the paintings of this govt and the insurance policies to which we’re each dedicated,” she wrote.The resignation got here hours after Sky Information and The Occasions of London newspaper reported that Haigh have been charged with fraud after she reported {that a} paintings cell phone have been stolen after she used to be mugged in 2013. She later mentioned she had mistakenly indexed it a few of the stolen pieces. After she discovered the telephone and switched it again on, she used to be referred to as in for wondering by means of police. Haigh pleaded in charge to fraud by means of misrepresentation and used to be given a conditional discharge.
In a remark sooner than her resignation, Haigh mentioned that “underneath the recommendation of my solicitor I pleaded in charge -– regardless of the reality this used to be a real mistake from which I didn’t make any achieve. The magistrates authorized all of those arguments and gave me the bottom conceivable result (a discharge) to be had.”
Haigh, 37, has represented a district in Sheffield, northern England, in Parliament since 2015 and used to be named to the important thing delivery submit after Starmer’s center-left Labour birthday celebration used to be elected in July.Starmer appointed Heidi Alexander, 49, as Haigh’s alternative. Alexander returned to Parliament in July’s common election after a 6-year absence, a part of which she spent at Town Corridor in London with a outstanding place overseeing the capital’s delivery gadget.
