LONDON — Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is set to consult ethics advisor after British Home Secretary Suella Braverman was accused of seeking preferential treatment to handle her speeding violations.
Braverman is in political trouble after coming under suspicion of trying to get preferential treatment over a speeding ticket.
According to the Sunday Times, which broke the story, after being fined for speeding the minister asked advisers to arrange for her to take a private speed awareness course to avoid taking the class with other motorists.
The case caught up with Sunak at the G7 summit in Japan. When asked by reporters, he said he “doesn’t know all the details about what happened.
“I understand that she has expressed regret for the speeding, accepted the penalty and paid the fine,” he said. His spokesperson said the minister “of course” had the confidence of the prime minister.
Sunak had delivered a speech at the final day of the G7 meeting in Japan with world leaders in Hiroshima to discuss support for Ukraine, but the prime minister was asked about claims involving his Home Secretary Braverman.
A spokesperson for the minister said in a statement to AFP on Sunday: “Braverman acknowledges that she was speeding last summer and regrets it. She chose to lose three points on her license and paid the fine last year.”
Braverman has been asked whether she asked civil servants for advice on arranging a private speed awareness course, after being caught speeding in 2022.
Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer said it looked like “inappropriate action took place”.
Also the shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper claimed Suella Braverman “tries to think she is above the normal laws” and listed some of what she calls her “rule-breaking behaviour”.
Facing a series of opposition questions on her handling of a 2022 speeding fine, the home secretary replied by offering “some gentle advice” to Labour.
But her attacks on opposition policies were cut off by Speaker Lindsay Hoyle.
Labor and the Lib Dems are calling for an investigation into Braverman after she sought advice about arranging a private speed awareness course. — Agencies