Home secretary Suella Braverman is facing a grilling by MPs after she allegedly asked her staff to help her dodge a speeding fine.
Ms Braverman said she was “confident that nothing untoward happened” in the handling of her speeding offence and added she regrets breaking the speed limit.
The home secretary denied trying to “evade” punishment on the speeding offence. Ms Braverman was challenged by Labour MP Emma Lewell-Buck in the Commons, and asked if she agreed that no-one should be “above the law”.
Braverman said: “Last summer I was speeding. I regret that. I paid the fine and I took the penalty. And at no point did I tried to evade sanction.”
Rishi Sunak earlier spoke to his ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus about Suella Braverman, but it is understood no formal inquiry has yet been launched into whether she breached the ministerial code.
A No 10 spokesman said Mr Sunak continued to have confidence in his home secretary.
A spokesman for the home secretary said she had since accepted the points and paid the fine.
Watch live: Braverman and Sunak face questions in Commons after speeding ticket controversy
Yvette Cooper asked Suella Braverman whether “she authorised her special adviser to tell journalists that there wasn’t a speeding penalty when there was”.
Speaking in the House of Commons, the shadow home secretary said: “At the heart of the Home Secretary’s responsibility is to ensure that laws are fairly enforced for all. But when she got a speeding penalty, it seems she sought special treatment, a private course and asked civil servants to help.
“She refused to say what she asked civil servants to do so I ask her that again, and to also tell us whether she authorised her special adviser to tell journalists that there wasn’t a speeding penalty when there was?”
The Home Secretary replied: “As I have said earlier, in the summer of last year, I was speeding. I regret that. I paid the fine and I accepted the points. At no time, did I seek to avoid the sanction.”
Ms Braverman said she is “getting on with the job of delivering for the British people”.
Rishi Sunak rejects view that Britain’s influence in decline as he gives G7 statement
Rishi Sunak gave a G7 statement to MPs, saying he rejects the view that Britain’s influence is in decline.
He said it is a ‘mistake’ to say that Britain is in retreat on the world stage, or that its influence is in decline.
The prime minister said Britain’s influence is clear in its Ukraine policy, and that the UK has been at the forefront of support for Ukraine.
Mr Sunak said the UK is providing more military aid to Ukraine than any country other than the US.
SNP spokesperson on home affairs Alison Thewliss asked the home secretary if being caught speeding would affect her right to remain in her job.
Ms Thewliss said being caught speeding can affect decisions about whether someone gets leave to remain in the UK.
Suella Braverman was questioned by shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper over allegations she tried to dodge a speeding fine.
Ms Cooper said: “Time and again, she tries to think that she’s above the normal rules, breaching security even though she’s responsible for it, trying to avoid penalties even though she sets them, reappointed even after breaking the ministerial code, and criticising Home Office policies even though she’s in charge of them and is failing on night crime, on Channel crossings, on immigration and more.
“The prime minister is clearly too weak to sort this out. Well, if the home secretary cannot get a grip of her own rule-breaking behaviour, how can she get a grip on anything else?”
Watch: Suella Braverman Tells Yvette Cooper To ‘Focus On Priorities’ After Question On Speeding Ticket
MP Margaret Ferrier who travelled by train with Covid loses appeal over Commons ban
Former SNP MP Margaret Ferrier has lost her appeal against a proposed 30-day suspension from Commons – bringing a by-election in her Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency a step closer.
The punishment was proposed by MPs on the Commons Standards Committee after a breach of Covid rules by Ms Ferrier saw her speak in the House of Commons and take the train between Scotland and England while positive for the virus.
With a sanction of 10 sitting days or more being enough to potentially force a by-election, Ms Ferrier, who now sits as an independent MP, had appealed against the length of her proposed suspension.
But the Independent Expert Panel, which considers appeals against decisions by the Committee on Standards from MPs, has rejected this.
With regards to Ms Ferrier’s appeal, a sub-panel which considered the matter found that “none of the grounds had substance” and also said that “the sanction imposed was neither unreasonable nor disproportionate”.
Katrine Bussey reports:
Suella Braverman responds to questions from shadow home secretary
Suella Braverman was questioned by shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper over allegations she tried to dodge a speeding fine.
Ms Cooper alleged Ms Braverman thinks she is “above the normal rules.”
Ms Braverman responded: “At no time did I seek to avoid the sanction.
“What is serious here is the priorities of the British people… I only wish the Labour party would focus on the priorities too.”
The shadow home secretary said: “the prime minister is clearly too weak to sort this out.”
Braverman accuses Labour of raising speeding fine to cause distraction
Suella Braverman accused the Labour party of raising her speeding fine to distract from their record on crime.
Shadow Home Office minister Sarah Jones asked Braverman if people caught speeding should be allowed to take speed awareness courses in private, and what Ms Braverman asked her staff to do.
Ms Braverman said: “Let’s be honest about what this is all about. The shadow minister would rather distract, really, from the abject failure by the Labour party to offer any serious proposal on crime or policing. They want to talk about this because it distracts from the fact that they voted against tougher sentences for paedophiles and murderers.”
Labour MPs could be heard laughing in the Commons as a Conservative MP mentioned driving in a question to the home secretary.
Sedgefield MP Paul Howell congratulated Suella Braverman for “driving this increase in police numbers on the street”.
Labour backbenchers began to laugh as the Tory MP continued his question to Ms Braverman, who was appearing in the Commons for the first time since newspaper reports suggested she mishandled a speeding offence.
