Well, well, well. Before Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour lot got into government, Starmer’s army was quite happy to commit to to suspending – and, in some cases, revoking altogether – severance pay over ministerial code breaches. But it appears Sir Keir’s crowd is a little less enthusiastic about the prospect now it threatens to affect one of their own.
Former Transport Secretary Louise Haigh resigned on Friday after it emerged she had pleaded guilty to a criminal offence in 2014 – with No. 10 advising her to step away from the brief over a possible breach of the ministerial code. The former Transport Secretary did not declare her spent conviction for fraud to Starmer’s government when she became a cabinet minister, although the Guardian reports that multiple sources have insisted that Sir Keir himself was aware of the conviction as far back as 2020 when Haigh became Northern Ireland Secretary. Notably, the PM’s spokesperson last week refused to confirm whether Starmer knew about the whole matter at any stage. How curious…
And it’s not the only issue No. 10 has been coy about. It transpires that Downing Street has been more than a little evasive about whether Labour’s promise over severance pay will apply to Haigh. The party previously pledged that:
Any minister who leaves their job while under investigation for allegations of misconduct or breaches of the ministerial code would have their severance suspended and then quashed entirely if the allegations were upheld, bringing their treatment into line with the rules for civil servants and special advisers.
Yet quizzed about whether the former government minister would receive a payout, the PM’s official spokesperson told journalists today that: ‘Severance pay rules are set out online and that remains the case.’ It follows more excuses about the whole palaver from the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden, who on Sunday claimed that the speed with which his party dealt with this issue differentiated Labour from previous Conservative controversies. Talk about scraping the barrel, eh?
And this isn’t the first time Haigh has generated negative headlines for her party. Back in October, the then-cabinet minister sparked tensions between the government and DP World, which in turn threatened a boycott of Sir Keir’s big investment summit by P&O Ferries. In a rare bit of good news for the lefty lot, the ferry giant decided to turn up in the end – but no thanks to the Transport Secretary. With party colleagues like these, who needs opponents?
Comments