Home Secretary Suella Braverman has insisted there was “nothing untoward” about her handling of a speeding offence as Rishi Sunak considered whether to launch a formal investigation.
The MP is under pressure after she reportedly asked officials to try to arrange a private speed awareness course for her rather than take penalty points on her driving licence.
In her first public comments on the row, Mrs Braverman did not deny asking civil servants to intervene.
Asked directly if she asked officials to arrange a one-to-one course for her, she said: “Last summer, I was speeding. I regret that. I paid the fine and I took the points but we’re focused now on delivering for the British people and working for them.”
Pressed on the same question, she said: “In relation to the process, I’m focused on delivering for the British people, doing my job as Home Secretary and what I will say is that, in my view, I’m confident that nothing untoward has happened.”
After speaking to broadcasters, Mrs Braverman appeared for a regular session of Home Office questions in the Commons, telling MPs: “I paid the fine and I took the penalty and at no point did I attempt to evade sanction.”
READ MORE: Rishi Sunak declines to back Suella Braverman over speeding points allegations
Mr Sunak has spoken to his ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus about Mrs Braverman, Downing Street said.
No formal inquiry has yet been launched into whether she breached the ministerial code, it is understood.
A No 10 spokesman said Mr Sunak was “availing himself of information” about the situation after his return from the G7 summit overnight.
But Mr Sunak continued to have confidence in his Home Secretary, the spokesman said.
“He and the Home Secretary continue to work closely on the public’s priorities, not least tackling illegal immigration,” he added.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Mrs Braverman should resign if she is found to have broken the ministerial code.
Sir Laurie cannot begin an investigation into a minister’s conduct without the authorisation of the Prime Minister.
Sir Keir told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “I don’t know all the facts but it looks to me as though the Home Secretary’s actions were inappropriate and they should be investigated.”
The Labour leader said he did not want to get “ahead of himself” in calling for Mrs Braverman to resign but said: “I think if she’s breached the ministerial code she should go … in the end, it’s the ministerial code that matters.”
Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA union which represents senior officials, told Sky News: “Civil servants are publicly-funded. They’re paid for by you and me. They’re not there to support the personal interests of a minister.
“They don’t do their shopping, they don’t look after their children and they don’t sort out their speeding fine.”
READ MORE: Margaret Ferrier MP loses appeal against Commons suspension
The row stems from a Sunday Times report that Mrs Braverman asked Home Office civil servants to help arrange a one-to-one driving awareness course, rather than the group session usually offered to motorists for minor speeding offences.
Officials are said to have refused the request, so Mrs Braverman allegedly turned to a political aide to assist her in attempting to arrange an alternative to a course with members of the public.
The speeding offence took place last year when Mrs Braverman was serving as attorney general.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel