London: UK police on Friday (January 20) fined Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for not wearing a seatbelt in a moving car while filming a social media video. Without naming Sunak, Lancashire Police said it had released a 42-year-old London man with a conditional offer of a certain penalty. “We have today (Friday, 20 January) given a conditional release to a 42-year-old London man following the circulation of a video on social media showing a man failing to wear a seatbelt in a moving car in Lancashire. Offered fixed penalties Lancashire Police tweeted. A conditional offer of a fixed fine phrase means that the person who has been fined has an offer to pay and admits guilt within 28 days.
Following the circulation of a video on social media of a passenger in a moving car in Lancashire failing to put on a seat belt, we have today (Friday, 20 January) issued a conditional offer to a 42-year-old man from London. Of certain punishment. pic.twitter.com/i2VJkFL2oL– Lancashire Police (@LancsPolice) January 20, 2023
Yet, as a compromise, they pay much less than the maximum fine and do not risk going to court to answer the matter. This is the standard punishment issued in such cases. Sunak was fined 50 pounds (around EUR 57 or USD 62), one-tenth of the theoretical maximum fee for not wearing a seat belt if the matter is taken to court, DW News reported. Specifically, passengers not wearing seat belts when available can be fined £100. This could rise to £500 if the matter goes to court.
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Shortly after the fine was announced, Sunak’s office said in a statement that “the prime minister fully accepts that this was a mistake and has apologised. He will of course follow through with the prescribed penalty.” Sunk was in Lancashire when the video was filmed, during a trip to the north of England. The video – to promote the latest round of government “levelling up” spending – was posted on Sunak’s Instagram account.
Earlier, he had apologized after removing his seatbelt to film a campaign video behind a moving car. The prime minister’s spokesman said he had made an “error of judgement” by briefly removing it to film the social media clip during a visit to the north of England. In the clip recorded for Instagram, Sunak addresses the camera without wearing protective equipment while the vehicle he is in continues to move, Politico reports.
“The prime minister believes everyone should wear seat belts,” the spokesperson said, Politico reported. “It was an error of judgement, he briefly took off to film the clip that you have seen, but he admits it was a mistake.”
This is the second time Sunak has received a fixed penalty notice while in government. Last April, Sunak was one of around 50 people, including former prime minister Boris Johnson, who received a fixed penalty notice last April for attending Johnson’s birthday party at 10 Downing Street in June 2020 , which was in defiance of the government’s own rules on social distancing. Distance during the COVID pandemic. The “Partygate” scandal and others helped set the wheels in motion, eventually leading to Johnson’s resignation last July.
(With inputs from ANI)