Sunak said to open an ethics investigation into Braverman’s speeding charge

The main opposition Labor Party has urged British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to launch an ethics inquiry into allegations that Home Secretary Suella Braverman asked civil servants to help her avoid speeding penalty points on her licence.

Braverman was caught speeding by police last summer. The Minister, who was Attorney-General at the time, was given a number of options, including attending a speeding awareness course with other members of the public or having three penalty points added to his licence.

But according to the report, the Sunday Times, Braverman instead enlisted the help of public officials and his political aide to organize a private speeding education course — an option not offered to other drivers. He later accepted points on his driver’s license when that request was denied, according to the newspaper.

A spokesman for the Home Secretary did not deny the allegations but said: “Ms Braverman admits she was speeding last summer and regrets it. Last year he got the three points and paid the fine.”

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

“Rishi Sunak is so weak that he cannot even ensure that his own ministers maintain a basic level of integrity,” he said. “The least you can do is come into parliament and explain this farce.”

Downing Street officials confirmed on Sunday night that after returning to the UK, Sunak would consult with the independent adviser on the matter.

At a news conference at the G7 conference in Hiroshima over the weekend, Sunak said Braverman had “expressed regret” over the incident.

Asked whether Sir Laurie Magnus, the independent adviser on ministerial interests, would investigate the matter and whether he had full confidence in his home secretary, the prime minister replied: “I don’t know all the details of what happened. did I talk to the interior minister?

He added: “I think you can see first-hand what I’ve done over the last few days, but I understand that you expressed regret for speeding, accepted the penalty and paid the fine.”

Downing Street later emphasized that the Prime Minister “of course” trusted his Home Secretary.

The reports come after Braverman was accused of launching a thinly veiled leadership bid last week, in a 4,000-word speech in which he reiterated the importance of reducing “legal migration” and the number of Channel crossings.

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

Meanwhile, the pressure on the Minister of the Interior increased on Sunday night after that Guardian newspaper reported that Braverman had tried to avoid a parliamentary vote on the government’s small craft bill, despite his three-line whipping of the legislation.