Suella Braverman's UK speeding scandal threatens political crash for Rishi Sunak

Suella Braverman’s supporters are inclined to blame this latest scandal on a woke-leaning civil service which they accuse of weaponising rules and codes to get rid of mainly right-leaning officials. (Source: Bloomberg)

Those caught speeding in the UK usually get a choice between paying a fine and taking three points on their driver’s license, or taking a speed awareness course. The smart play is to do the course. So when she was caught speeding while still attorney general, Home Secretary Suella Braverman ticked that option.

So far, so relatable. In fact, a number of MPs and ministers have been caught speeding and had to accept the consequences. But Braverman allegedly wanted to avoid a media field-day around publicly appearing in the naughty room. Reports over the weekend said she asked a civil servant to help her dispatch the penalty without a group course. According to the reports, she was rebuffed, since the civil service code prevents them from acting on private matters or in a way that would be construed as party political. (When her political office was also unable to arrange for a private course, she gave up and took the points.)

Well, the media field-day came anyway. Sunak was stuck having to answer questions about Braverman’s speeding ticket at the G7 conference in Hiroshima and then had to consult with his ethics adviser. Braverman’s role is now in question, and she spent Monday trying to assure MPs and the public that “nothing untoward has happened.”

The allegations of impropriety seem almost quaint when held up against the kinds of scandals that brought down Boris Johnson and others — to say nothing of what counts as a major scandal in the US or elsewhere. But the row comes the same week that the government is due to release figures expected to show a significant jump in immigration levels, an issue that gets the public’s attention and has divided the Tory Party. Sunak has also already lost three cabinet ministers to scandals over ethical breaches, two for bullying and one for failing to declare a tax investigation that resulted in a penalty. Those losses caused no lasting damage, but the situation around Braverman poses a different challenge.

A once and future candidate for the party leadership, she has a strong following from the party’s right, particularly among those who believe the Conservatives’ only path to electoral victory (or even viability in the future) is by taking a harder line on immigration. She was the architect of the Illegal Migration Bill, under which anyone arriving in the UK without permission is criminalised. She’s so enthusiastic about Britain’s new deportation policy she gushed over the interior design of Rwandan refugee shelters. Her speech last week to a conference on “national conservatism” argued that Britain should train more domestic fruit pickers and truck drivers to cut immigration.

Braverman’s supporters are inclined to blame this latest scandal on a woke-leaning civil service, or factions in parliament, which they accuse of weaponising rules and codes to get rid of mainly right-leaning officials whose political agenda they dislike.

Yet Sunak couldn’t just wave aside the matter, even if he was tempted to. He has staked his election hopes on both a record of delivery and a reputation for accountability. Another breach of the ministerial code by a high-ranking official, however seemingly minor, reflects badly on him and his party more generally. And Sunak has already given Braverman a pass by reinstating her after she was fired by Liz Truss after admitting to data breaches. To do so a second time, if the allegation is upheld, would smack of the very double standard that eroded public trust in Johnson’s government. That would threaten Sunak’s attempts to close the polling gap with Labour and rebuild trust in his party.

Sunak has consulted ethics adviser Laurie Magnus for guidance; perhaps it will all fizzle. If not, the ultimate decision will be the prime minister’s. If Sunak loses his home secretary, he risks being accused by an important segment of his party of going wobbly on his immigration pledges and marginalising a key wing of Conservatives. If he manages to keep Braverman, he’ll be accused by Labour (which faces a quandary of its own when it comes to immigration policy) of putting political expediency above his integrity pledge for a second time.

The problem with speeding is that it can lead to a crash.

Therese Raphael is a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion covering health care and British politics. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication.

Credit: Bloomberg