British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will pay a fine for not wearing a seatbelt while filming a video to promote an economics show on Friday.
The fine, issued by Lancashire police to a “42-year-old man from London”, will cost around £100, or roughly $124, pence for a man who has a net worth greater than that of the King of England. The fine can increase to £500, or roughly $620, if the case goes to court.
Sunak had visited Lancashire to film the video as part of a trip to the north of England. He was trying to promote the latest government spending bill, which was intended to help “level up” or improve facilities and infrastructure in key parts of the country.
In the video, posted to Instagram, Sunak sits in the back of a car discussing how the government plans to spend its £2.1bn fund, but eagle-eyed onlookers couldn’t help but notice that the prime minister was not wearing seat belt on.
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Representatives of the prime ministers told the BBC that Sunak “fully accepts that this was a mistake and has apologized”, adding that he would pay the fine.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak leaves 10 Downing Street to attend the weekly Prime Ministers’ Questions session in Parliament in London, Wednesday, January 11, 2023.
(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab told BBC Breakfast that Sunak “made a mistake on the seatbelt issue.”
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Sunak previously paid a fine for breaching COVID-19 lockdown rules after attending a birthday gathering for then Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Downing Street in June 2020.
FILE – Britain’s then Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab speaks at a news conference with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the State Department, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020, in Washington.
(Nicholas Kamm/Pool via AP)
Multiple fines, called “fixed fine notices” in the UK, must be paid within 28 days.
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“From the party gate to the seatbelt gate, these Tory politicians are simply taking the British for fools,” Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said of the video. “While they continue to behave like it’s one rule for them and another for everyone else, this fine is a reminder that the Tories are finally getting their comeuppance.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves 10 Downing Street as he heads to the House of Commons, in London, on Monday.
(AP/Alberto Pezzali)
Conservative Party (MP) members of parliament have defended their party leader: Scott Benton, a Conservative MP for Blackpool South, said police should be more concerned with “tackling serious crime” rather than focusing on a “mistake” .
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“Let’s keep this in proportion here. Every year millions of Britons receive notices of similar flat fines,” Benton said of the issue.
