Victoria Derbyshire didn’t mince her words on BBC1, putting Labour’s Pat McFadden on the spot over Keir Starmer’s decision to appoint Louise Haigh to Cabinet despite her past fraud conviction. The grilling came just days after Haigh’s resignation, raising fresh questions about Starmer’s consistency on lawbreaking lawmakers.
“Lawmaker Cannot Be a Lawbreaker” – Except When They Can?
Derbyshire kicked off with a pointed reminder: back in 2022, during the height of the partygate scandal, Starmer declared to MPs that “a lawmaker cannot be a lawbreaker.” Yet Haigh, who pleaded guilty to fraud in 2014, was handed a Cabinet job when Starmer became prime minister.
She showed McFadden a clip of Starmer’s 2022 statement, then asked: “He said that when he had someone sitting on his shadow frontbench, ie Louise Haigh, with a conviction. Isn’t that hypocritical?”
McFadden Dodges, Derbyshire Pushes
McFadden tried to sidestep, explaining: “What he’s saying is if you’re sitting in Cabinet, you can’t be breaking the law.” But Derbyshire wasn’t letting him off that easily. “He gave her a job in Cabinet when he knew she had a past conviction,” she countered.
The minister attempted a broader defence: “It’s not the case that anyone who’s ever broken the law can’t sit in Parliament. If you looked around, you’d probably find more than one with a conviction—I don’t know everybody’s background.”
Why Did Haigh Have to Resign, Then?
Derbyshire pressed on: “If it’s fine, why did she have to go?” McFadden admitted he wasn’t privy to “every conversation” that led to Haigh’s resignation but said it was a decision made between her and the prime minister.
When Derbyshire doubled down, asking outright if Starmer was a hypocrite, McFadden stood his ground: “No, he’s not. I think he’s appointed a good Cabinet. It’s a more united Cabinet than I’ve seen in many years, and we’re working together.”
A Question of Consistency
While McFadden tried to present the resignation as an isolated incident, Derbyshire’s questioning highlighted a bigger issue for Starmer: consistency. After making a moral stand against lawbreaking during partygate, appointing a minister with a criminal conviction—even one disclosed upfront—raises eyebrows.
For now, Labour insists the matter is closed, but with Derbyshire keeping the pressure on, Starmer’s past comments may continue to haunt him. After all, nothing says “awkward” quite like being held to your own words.
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