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Suella Braverman speeding row balloons into much bigger issue, writes political editor Paul Francis

15:22, 22 May 2023

Whether or not Rishi Sunak goes to bed on Sunday whistling the tune to ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’ isn’t known.

But he could be forgiven for thinking it’s not always the best day of the week as it invariably seems he has to deal with some crisis which wasn’t on the grid when he packed up for the weekend.

Paul Francis gives his view on the latest in politics
Paul Francis gives his view on the latest in politics

This week it was the turn of the Home Secretary Suella Braverman to provide an unwelcome distraction.

Not for the first time, a minister has got into a pickle over some kind of inappropriate conduct which, it has been alleged, breaches the ministerial code.

The Home Secretary has like thousands of thousands of other motorists been caught speeding; an offence, yes, but what has apparently landed her in hot water has not been her ticket but her attempt to arrange a one-to-one speed awareness course.

It is true that being in that particular role brings with it additional security issues but the impression from reports is she may have been trying to minimise the chances of her offence getting into the public domain.

Whatever advice she got or took does make you wonder where some of these advisors come from.

In PR terms, full disclosure might have been the best approach here with a full and frank public admission that, yes, she had been caught and yes, she was going to do the course.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman. Picture: Stefan Rousseau/PA
Home Secretary Suella Braverman. Picture: Stefan Rousseau/PA

Why? Well, when we hold politicians to a higher level of accountability and transparency, attempts at cover-ups routinely fail and create even more problems.

As with a lot of these incidents, the political response has done just that. And even if some of the detail has been over-hyped, her team must now recognise their approach has allowed the impression to be given that they were desperate for the story to be kept under wraps.

What started as a minor incident has ballooned unnecessarily into a bigger one, involving the party’s standards watchdog being asked to assess if she had breached the ministerial code.

Not for speeding, though. But for what happened after she got a ticket. It is not, as some might say “a good look”.

The wider issue here is also about the PM’s handling of events: he is in the unenviable position of knowing that he’ll be damned if he does act and damned if he doesn’t.

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