British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will consult his advisers after he was urged to investigate claims that Home Secretary Suella Braverman asked public servants to help her avoid speeding points Independent Ministerial Ethics Adviser.
Last summer, Braverman was caught by police for speeding. The minister, who was then attorney general, had a number of options including taking a speeding awareness course with the rest of the public or getting three points on her licence.
However, according to a report by the agency sunday timesInstead, Braverman enlisted the help of civil servants and her political aides to arrange private one-on-one speed awareness sessions — an option other drivers don’t have. When that request was denied, she later accepted the points on her driver’s license, the newspaper said.
A spokesman for the Home Secretary did not deny the allegations but said: “Ms Braverman admitted she was speeding last summer and regretted it. She scored three points and paid the fine last year.”
Downing Street officials confirmed on Sunday night that once Sunak returned from the G7 summit in Japan he would consult with his independent ethics adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, over whether Braverman had breached the ministerial code.
The move comes after opposition parties called for a formal ethics inquiry.
In a letter to Sunak, Labor deputy leader Angela Rayner called on the prime minister to clarify whether Braverman had breached the ministerial code and whether she had “encouraged or asked public servants, officials or special advisers to further enhance her position by supporting her”. to violate the civil service code “own private interests”, and when Sunak learned of it.
“The public has a right to know if the minister responsible for law and order is trying to abuse his powers to try to get preferential treatment to avoid speeding fines,” Rainer added. “This Conservative cabinet seems to think they are above the laws that govern the rest of us.”
On Monday, Lib Dem chief whip Wendy Chamberlain called on Sunak to resolve the matter before MPs in the House of Commons.
“Rishi Sunak is so weak that he can’t even ensure the most basic level of integrity among his own ministers,” she said. “The least he can do is go to Parliament and explain this farce.”
This isn’t the first time Braverman has been embroiled in controversy over her actions. In her first term as home secretary under former prime minister Liz Truss, Braverman resigned in October last year after she admitted she had “technically violated” the cabinet when she used a private phone to send classified information Regulation.
Speaking at a news conference for the G7 meeting in Hiroshima last weekend, Sunak said Braverman “expressed regret” over the incident.
Asked whether his independent ministerial interests adviser would look into the matter and whether he had confidence in the home secretary, the prime minister replied: “I don’t know the full details of what happened and have not spoken to the home secretary.”
He added: “I think you can see for yourself what I’ve done in the last day or so, but I know she expressed regret for the speeding, accepted the penalty and paid the fine.”
Downing Street later stressed that the prime minister “of course” had confidence in his home secretary.
The reports come after Braverman was accused of launching a thinly veiled leadership campaign last week, in which he reiterated the importance of reducing “legal immigration” and English Channel border crossings in a 4,000-word speech.
Her department is bracing for new net migration figures to be released by the Office for National Statistics, which analysts predict could rise from just over 500,000 to 700,000 in the year to June 2022.
Meanwhile, pressure on the Home Secretary mounted on Sunday night Guardian Reports said Braverman was trying to avoid a parliamentary vote on the government’s small boats bill, despite the three-line flogging.