Posted by British police issued a fine to British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Friday for failing to fasten a seatbelt in the backseat of a moving car while traveling to northern England.
Sunak was captured turning in his seat to speak to the camera while not wearing a seatbelt in an Instagram video he posted on Thursday. The video has since been removed from the social media platform.
The Lancashire constabulary announced they were fining Sunak for the breach, despite the PM’s office at Downing Street saying the incident was a “brief error of judgment,” according to The Guardian UK.
According to the police, a video of a passenger in a moving car in Lancashire not fastening their seatbelt has been making the rounds on social media.
We have today given a conditional offer of a fixed penalty to a 42-year-old man from London after investigating this situation.
The Sunak responded by stating that the prime minister “completely accepts this was a mistake and has apologized.” Of course, he will pay the stipulated fine.
Sunak can avoid a court appearance by paying a fine under a fixed penalty.
According to The Guardian UK, the government’s safety campaign states that any driver or passenger who is caught driving without a seatbelt would be subject to a fine of up to £500 if the matter proceeds to court. The police did not divulge the amount they had fined the prime minister.
According to an AFP article, Sunak’s modes of transportation were already a topic of conversation in the UK before the event.
His use of a private plane to make numerous brief excursions in recent days has drawn criticism from his political adversaries.
Sunak has received a police fine in the past as well.
According to an AFP story, he received a fine while serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer for breaking the government’s social distance restrictions by attending a Downing Street party in June 2020.
Sunak is now the second Conservative prime minister to get a police fine in less than a year thanks to the most recent one.
In 2020, Boris Johnson received a fixed-penalty notice from the Metropolitan police for going to a party while the area was under lockdown. Due to his attendance at the same event as the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sunak was fined.