Home Secretary Suella Braverman will not face an investigation over her handling of a speeding ticket after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak decided it did not amount to a breach of the ministerial code.
A Sunday Times report alleged that Braverman, after being caught speeding in 2022, sought advice about arranging a private speed awareness course via Home Office officials and an aide.
Following the revelation, opposition parties called on the prime minister’s ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus to investigate whether she breached ministerial rules in the process.
But the home secretary insisted on Monday that there was “nothing untoward” about her handling of the matter.
After consulting with the adviser over the case, Sunak said he has decided not to order a formal investigation, as “these matters do not amount to a breach of the ministerial code.”
But in a letter to Braverman, he said, “As you have recognised, a better course of action could have been taken to avoid giving rise to the perception of impropriety.”
‘Distraction’
In a letter to the prime minister, the home secretary apologised for the “distraction” it has caused.Braverman wrote: “As I say, in hindsight, or if faced with a similar situation again, I would have chosen a different course of action. I sought to explore whether bespoke arrangements were possible, given my personal circumstances as a security-protected minister.
Speeding Course
Braverman was caught speeding in June 2022, while she was attorney general, and given the option of three penalty points or a group speed awareness course.In a letter to the prime minister, she said she decided to take the course and had booked a slot, but after being made home secretary in September she asked officials whether the group session was appropriate given the security concerns related to her new role.
Braverman said that, in discussions with her principal private secretary (PPS), she was advised that the Cabinet Office’s Propriety and Ethics Team (PET) would be “the best source of advice on whether it was appropriate to seek to do the course in a way that protected my privacy, security, and was least disruptive to the course participants and provider.”
The PET advised it was “not an appropriate matter for civil servants to take forward,” Braverman said.
But she said her PPS confirmed she could discuss the matter with her special advisers, who raised concerns about her taking an online course because of the risk of being “covertly recorded” and the difficulties of the “appropriate security arrangements” if she attended an in-person session.
“Special advisers then contacted the course provider to better understand the range of appropriate options that might be available—and consistent with the course provider’s rules, policies and practices,” she said.
‘Cowardly Cop-Out’
Braverman added: “I regret that my attempt to find a way to participate in the course in a manner that would have satisfied these concerns has enabled some to construe a potential conflict of interest. With hindsight, I acknowledge that the better course of action would have been to take the points and fine upfront.”In his letter, Sunak told the home secretary: “I am reassured you take these matters seriously. You have provided a thorough account, apologised and expressed regret. It is vital that all those in government maintain the high standards the public rightly expects.”
The opposition Liberal Democrats called Sunak’s decision a “cowardly cop-out.”
The party’s chief whip Wendy Chamberlain said: “Sunak had the chance to do the right thing, but instead he’s once again chosen to be ruled by his own hard-line backbenchers. He may be in office but he is barely in power.”
