British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will be fined on Friday for not wearing a seat belt while filming a video promoting an economic programme.
The fine imposed by Lancashire Police on a “42-year-old man from London” costs around £100 or about $124 – pennies for a man whose net worth is greater than that of the King of England. The fine can increase to £500 or around $620 should the case go to court.
Sunak had visited Lancashire to film the video as part of a trip around the north of England. He tried to promote the government’s latest spending bill aimed at “leveling up,” or upgrading, facilities and infrastructure in key parts of the country.
In the video posted to Instagram, Sunak sits in the back of a car and discusses how the government intends to spend its £2.1billion, but observant viewers could not help but notice that the PM was not wearing a seat belt.
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Prime Minister officials told the BBC that Sunak “fully accepts that this was a mistake and has apologized,” adding that he would actually pay the fine.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak leaves 10 Downing Street to attend the weekly session of Prime Minister’s Questions in Parliament in London on Wednesday January 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab told BBC Breakfast Sunak “made a mistake on the seat belt issue”.
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Sunak has previously paid a fine for breaching COVID-19 lockdown rules after attending a birthday celebration for then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson at Downing Street in June 2020.
FILE: British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab addresses a news conference with Foreign Secretary Mike Pompeo at the Foreign Office Wednesday, September 16, 2020 in Washington. (Nicholas Comb/Pool via AP)
The multiple penalties, known in the UK as ‘appointed penalties’, must be paid within 28 days.
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“From Partygate to Seatbelt Gate, these Conservative politicians think the British people are fools,” Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper said of the video. “While they continue to behave as if it’s one rule for them and another for everyone else, this fine is a reminder that Conservatives will eventually get their compensation.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves 10 Downing Street on his way to the House of Commons in London on Monday. (AP/Alberto Pezzali)
Conservative Party MPs have defended their party leader: Scott Benton, a Conservative MP for Blackpool South, said police should be more concerned with “fighting serious crime” than focusing on a “mistake”.
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“Let’s keep this in proportion here. Millions of Britons receive similar fixed penalties every year,” Benton said of the problem.
Peter Aitken is a reporter at Fox News Digital specializing in national and global news.