Cabinet minister defends under fire Sheffield MP
Louise Haigh quit as Transport Secretary on Friday after details came out about an historic conviction for lying to the police - she calls a "mistake"
A Cabinet minister has said that the situation over Louise Haigh was "dealt with very quickly", and suggested that was a "big contrast" to how things have operated under previous governments.
The Sheffield Heeley MP quite her role as Transport Secretary on Friday after it emerged she had a conviction connected to lying to police about a stolen mobile phone from before she stood for parliament.
Speaking to Sky News' Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden said: "It's not against the law for someone who's had some kind of conviction in the past - a conviction that's spent, as I understand it - to serve in Parliament.
"The story came to light, 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 (...) endless stories about it before action was taken, and within 24 hours, we have a new Transport Secretary."
Pushed on whether this meant the issue was not whether anybody had done anything wrong but how quickly it was dealt with, Mr McFadden added: "I think it partly is, because you know people will do things wrong and these things will come to light and how you deal with them and how you respond is part of how this works (...) there's a big contrast there."
Asked whether incidents over the last few months such as Ms Haigh's resignation and the controversy over Taylor Swift tickets had made the Government look "chaotic", Pat McFadden said "I don't accept that for a minute."