Rishi Sunak to consult ethics consultant on Suella Braverman’s speeding claims

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak consulted his independent advisor on ministerial ethics after being urged to investigate claims that Home Secretary Suella Braverman told civil servants to help avoid penalty points on their driving licenses for speeding. Do it.

Braverman was pulled over by police last summer for speeding. The minister, who was Attorney-General at the time, was given a number of options, including attending an accelerated awareness course along with other members of the public, or face three penalty points in his licence.

But according to a report from Sunday TimesInstead, Braverman requested civil servants and his political ally to arrange private one-to-one speed awareness courses – an option not offered to other drivers. The newspaper said it later accepted the points on its license when that request was denied.

A spokesman for the Home Secretary did not deny the allegations, but said: “Ms Braverman admits she was speeding last summer and she regrets doing so. She picked up three points and paid a fine last year .

Downing Street officials confirmed on Sunday evening that after Sunak returned from the G7 summit in Japan, he would consult with his independent ethics adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, about whether Braverman had breached the ministerial code.

The move follows calls by opposition parties to launch a formal ethics probe.

In a letter to Sunak, Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner asked the prime minister to clarify whether Braverman had breached the ministerial code, whether he “encouraged or forwarded civil servants, officers or special advisers”. Said to have violated the civil service code by supporting the hike.” own personal interests”, and when Sunak was informed of the matter.

“The public has a right to know that the minister responsible for law and order has tried to abuse his position in an attempt to obtain preferential treatment in order to avoid speeding fines,” Rayner said. “This Conservative cabinet seems to think they are above the laws that govern the rest of us.”

Wendy Chamberlain, the Liberal Democrat chief whip, called on Sunak to address the matter before MPs in the House of Commons on Monday.

He said, “Rishi Sunak is so weak that he cannot even ensure that his own ministers maintain a basic level of probity.” “At least he can come to Parliament and explain this farce.”

This is not the first time Braverman has been embroiled in controversy over her conduct. In his first term as home secretary under former prime minister Liz Truss, Braverman resigned last October after committing a “technical breach” of ministerial rules in sending confidential information using a private phone.

Speaking over the weekend, during a press conference at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Sunak said Braverman had “expressed regret” over the incident.

Asked whether his independent advisers would investigate the matter in the interests of the minister and whether he had full confidence in his Home Secretary, the Prime Minister replied: “I am not fully aware of what has happened, and neither I have spoken to someone. Home Secretary.

He said: “I think you can see firsthand what I’ve been doing over the last day or so, but I understand he has apologized for speeding, accepted the fine and paid the fine “

Downing Street later insisted that the Prime Minister “of course” had confidence in his Home Secretary.

Braverman was accused of launching a thinly veiled leadership bid last week, reiterating the importance of reducing “legal migration” as well as reducing crossings across the English Channel in a 4,000-word speech.

His department is bracing for new net migration figures from the Office for National Statistics, which analysts forecast could rise by a little over 500,000 in the year to 700,000 by June 2022.

Meanwhile, pressure increased on the Home Secretary on Sunday evening. Guardian newspaper reported that Braverman tried to avoid a parliamentary vote on the government’s small-boats bill despite a three-line whip on the legislation.