20 JANUARY 2023 | NEWS
The Prime Minister has been fined by Lancashire Police after failing to wear a seatbelt in the back of a moving car.
In a social media video, Rishi Sunak was filmed visibly not wearing a seatbelt on a trip across northern England.
Today, the Lancashire constabulary announced it was fining him. They said: “You will be aware that a video has been circulating on social media showing an individual failing to wear a seatbelt while a passenger in a moving car in Lancashire.
“After looking into this matter, we have today issued a 42-year-old man from London with a conditional offer of fixed penalty.”
It has not been made clear how much the Prime Minister will be fined in relation to the incident, but breaking this law could make someone liable to be fined up to £500.
Downing Street have confirmed he will pay the fine, a conditional offer of a fixed penalty notice (FPN), and stated that he “fully accepts this was a mistake and has apologised”.
This marks the second time Mr Sunak has been handed a fine by police, having also been fined last year over the infamous ‘Partygate’ scandal – in which a former Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, was also fined.
The video that revealed the Prime Minister not to be wearing a seatbelt was to highlight the Government’s recent spending on its ‘Levelling-Up’ agenda, which was a focal point of the Conservative Party’s 2019 manifesto.
In response to the incident, a Labour Party spokesperson said: “Hapless Rishi Sunak’s Levelling-Up photo-op has blown up in his face and turned him into a laughing stock.
“He started the week hoping people would be grateful for a partial refund on the money that has been stripped from them over 13 years of the Tories. But instead he got a warring party and yet another fine from the police.
“Just when you thought this Tory Government couldn’t get any more ridiculous, they manage it.”
Meanwhile, Deputy Labour leader, Angela Rayner, condemned Mr Sunak as a “total liability”.
