Rishi Sunak will be fined for not wearing his seatbelt
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will be fined for failing to wear a seatbelt.
It marks his second fine, having paid a fixed-penalty notice during the partygate scandal while Chancellor.
Lancashire Constabulary confirmed the news this evening.
In a statement, the force 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 (Friday, January 20) issued a 42-year-old man from London with a conditional offer of fixed penalty.’
A No10 spokesperson responded: ‘The Prime Minister fully accepts this was a mistake and has apologised.
‘He will of course comply with the fixed penalty.’
Mr Sunak apologised after his ‘error of judgment’ was spotted in an Instagram video promoting his levelling-up funding in the region.
Fines of up to £500 can be issued when someone doesn’t wear a seatbelt when one is available.
Commenting on the seatbelt incident, a Downing Street spokesman added yesterday that the PM ‘fully accepts this was a mistake and apologises’.
‘The Prime Minister believes everyone should wear a seatbelt’, he said.
‘It was an error of judgment, he removed it for a short period of time to film a clip, which you’ve seen, but he accepts that was a mistake.’
There are a few exemptions for failing to wear a belt, including when a car is being used for police, fire and rescue services and for certified medical issues.
While working as Chancellor, Mr Sunak was fined alongside Boris Johnson following the Partygate investigation.
The Met’s investigation into breaches of Covid regulations found the country’s two most senior politicians at the time had broke the very laws they set at the height of the pandemic.
Mr Sunak has ‘shown the same disregard for the rules as Boris Johnson’, the Liberal Democrats claimed tonight.
The party’s deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: ‘Rishi Sunak has shown the same disregard for the rules as Boris Johnson, and now becomes the second Prime Minister to be fined by the police.
‘From partygate to seatbelt gate, these Conservative politicians are just taking the British people for fools.
‘Whilst they continue to behave as though it’s one rule for them and another for everyone else, this fine is a reminder that the Conservatives eventually get their comeuppance.’
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