Rishi Sunak fined for not wearing seatbelt in back of car

The United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been fined for not wearing a seatbelt in a moving car. The Lancashire Police, without specifying the name, said that it had issued a fixed penalty with a conditional offer to a 42-year-old man from London, BBC reported.

"That was a brief error of judgement. The PM removed his seatbelt to film a small clip. He fully accepts this was a mistake and apologises about it," Sunak's spokesperson said.

"The Prime Minister believes everyone should wear a seatbelt," the spokesperson added. In the UK, passengers caught failing to wear a seatbelt while in a car, unless covered by a valid medical exemption, can be given an on-the-spot fine of 100 pounds, increasing to 500 pounds if the case goes to court.

Sunak filmed the video while seated in the back seat of a moving car to promote his government's new Levelling Up Fund announcements to fund over 100 projects around the country. Police motorbikes could be seen escorting his car as he addressed the camera.

The government recently also considered toughening seatbelt rules to ensure drivers not wearing them could also receive penalty points on their licence. Latest Department for Transport figures suggest around 30 per cent of people killed in cars on the roads in the UK in 2021 were not in a seatbelt.

"Rishi Sunak doesn't know how to manage a seatbelt, his debit card, a train service, the economy, this country. This list is growing every day, and it's making for endless painful viewing," a Labour spokesperson said.

"It seems like the PM is getting too used to flying around in private jets that he's forgotten to wear a seatbelt in a car," said Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper.