British PM Rishi Sunak fined for not wearing seatbelt

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been fined for not using a seatbelt in a moving car during his filming of a social media video.

Lancashire Police said it had issued him in London with a conditional offer of a fixed penalty according to BBC.

Sunak’s office, 10 Downing Street said he “fully accepts this was a mistake and has apologised”, adding that he would pay the fine.

Passengers caught failing to wear a seatbelt when one is available can be fined £100.

BBC further said that this can increase to £500 if the case goes to court.

The prime minister was in Lancashire when the video was filmed, during a trip across the north of England.

The video – to promote the government’s latest round of “levelling up” spending – was posted on Sunak’s Instagram account.

The incident has made it the second time Sunak would receive a fixed penalty notice while in government.

Last April, he was fined along with Boris Johnson and wife Carrie for breaking Covid lockdown rules – by attending a birthday gathering for the then-prime minister in Downing Street in June 2020.

Fixed penalty notices are a sanction for breaking the law, and mean a fine, which needs to be paid within 28 days or contested.

If someone chooses to contest the fine, the police will then review the case and decide whether to withdraw the fine or take the matter to court.

The Liberal Democrats said, in becoming the second ever serving prime minister to be fined by police, he had “shown the same disregard for the rules as Boris Johnson.”

Deputy Lib Dem leader Daisy Cooper said, “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.”