PM to consult ethics adviser over Braverman speeding claimson May 22, 2023 at 9:57 am

Rishi Sunak is to consult his ethics adviser later about Suella Braverman’s handling of a speeding offence.

The home secretary was caught speeding in 2022 and asked the civil service for advice about arranging a private speed awareness course.

Mrs Braverman was attorney general at the time. A government source denied her actions broke the ministerial code.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said it looked like “inappropriate action took place”.

The home secretary is under scrutiny not over the speeding offence itself, but over whether she acted properly in relation to the civil service over the one-to-one speed awareness course.

After being caught speeding, Ms Braverman faced losing three points on her licence and a fine, or a course as part of a group.

A government source told the BBC the senior minister had been “concerned” about her insurance premiums, and favoured doing a course.

Mrs Braverman asked civil servants about a one-on-one course, citing security concerns about doing one as part of a group. She was told it was not a matter for the civil service.

She then asked a special adviser to try to arrange a private course.

When the speed course provider said there was no option to do this, Mrs Braverman opted to pay the fine and accept the points, because she was “very busy” a source told the BBC. By this point she had been reappointed as home secretary in Mr Sunak’s government.

The same government source refused to say whether Mrs Braverman’s motivation to do the course in private was to reduce the chances of her being recognised by members of the public.

Speaking to the Westminster Hour on BBC Radio 4, former senior civil servant Sir Philip Rycroft said Mrs Braverman’s reported actions appeared to be a “real lapse of judgement”.

“Obviously, there’s still investigations to be done and so on but the code is very clear. Ministers must ensure that no conflict arises or appears to arise between their public duties and their private interests.

“Even asking a question of a civil servant as to how she might go on one of these courses puts them in an impossible position.”

The ministerial code sets standards of conduct expected of ministers, including that they must uphold the political impartiality of the civil service.

On Monday, the Mirror newspaper carried a transcript of a conversation several weeks ago between a reporter and aide about whether Mrs Braverman had been on a speed awareness course.

The aide responded to questions about a course, but refused to engage on wider questions about whether she had ever been fined for a speeding offence.

Mrs Braverman is due in the Commons on Monday afternoon for Home Office questions.

Ahead of that, Sir Keir said the prime minister should order his adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, to investigate whether ministerial rules were broken.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Sir Keir said it looked like “inappropriate action took place” from the home secretary that “needs to be fully investigated”.

“The usual consequence of breaking the ministerial code is that you’ll go,” he added.

His deputy leader Angela Rayner also called on the prime minister to “show some backbone” and order Sir Laurie to “get to the bottom of this episode”.

Sir Laurie cannot begin an investigation into a minister until the prime minister, who has been at the G7 summit in Japan, gives it the go-ahead.

The Liberal Democrats are also calling for an investigation and said Mr Sunak needed to make a statement in Parliament about the claims.

Answering questions at the G7 summit over the weekend, Mr Sunak apparently did not know anything about the story the until it was first reported in the Sunday Times. and he declined to say whether he would be ordering an investigation.

Speaking at a news conference, he also declined to say he backed Mrs Braverman – but a Downing Street source later said that “of course” he did.

“I don’t know the full details of what has happened, nor have I spoken to the home secretary,” Mr Sunak said.

“But I understand she has expressed regret for speeding, accepted the penalty and paid the fine.”

After serving as attorney general between February 2020 and September 2022, Mrs Braverman was promoted to home secretary under Liz Truss.

She resigned on 19 October after sending an official document from a personal email to a backbench MP – describing it as a “technical infringement of the rules”. But she was reappointed to the same role by Mr Sunak six days later following the collapse of Liz Truss’s government.

A source close to the home secretary said: “Mrs Braverman accepted three points for a speeding offence which took place last summer.

“The Cabinet Office was made aware of the situation as requested by Mrs Braverman. She was not and is not disqualified from driving.”

A Cabinet Office spokesman said: “It would not be appropriate to comment on the existence or content of advice between government departments.”