A minister has denied Labour as “tawdry and chaotic” as the Conservatives after the Louise Haigh phone scandal.
Ms Haigh stepped down as transport secretary this week after Sky News revealed she pleaded guilty and was convicted in 2014 after reporting her phone stolen when it had not been.
The conviction is believed to relate to fraud. Ms Haigh said it was a “genuine mistake” from which she did not benefit.
Two sources told Sky News officers who looked at metadata from the phone believed a photo she submitted of the handset had been taken after the alleged theft.
Pat McFadden, chancellor to the Duchy of Lancaster, told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips the issue was dealt with “very quickly” and he is sorry to see her go as “she was doing a good job”.
Asked whether the scandal, along with free Taylor Swift tickets, clothes and glasses for ministers, made Labour look “just as tawdry and chaotic as your predecessors did”, Mr McFadden said: “I don’t accept that for a minute.
“If you take this Louise Haigh situation, this story came to light and it was dealt with very quickly. Louise has decided to resign by the end of the day.
“This isn’t something that dragged on for weeks. It isn’t something where there happened to be endless stories about it before action was taken and within 24 hours, we have a new transport secretary.
“So I think the parallel you’re trying to draw doesn’t work and in fact, the speed at which this happened shows that there is no parallel.”
Mr McFadden said part of the issue for the public’s perception is how, and how quickly, scandals are dealt with.
The minister added that he did not know any further details than have been reported, and does not know “who knew what and when”.
“It’s not against the law for someone who’s had some kind of a conviction in the past, a conviction that…
