Suella Braverman has said she is “confident that nothing untoward happened” in the handling of her speeding offence and added she regrets breaking the speed limit.
The home secretary is under pressure after reports she initially asked officials to try to arrange a private speed awareness course for her, rather than take penalty points on her driving licence.
In her first public comments on the row, Ms Braverman did not deny asking civil servants to intervene and check about a one-to-one course – but repeatedly denied trying to “evade” punishment.
Asked if she asked officials to arrange a private course, the cabinet minister said: “Last summer, I was speeding. I regret that. I paid the fine and I took the points but we’re focused now on delivering for the British people and working for them.”
Pressed again, Ms Braverman said: “In relation to the process, I’m focused on delivering for the British people, doing my job as home secretary. And what I will say is that, in my view, I’m confident that nothing untoward has happened.”
It comes as No 10 revealed that Rishi Sunak has spoken to both Ms Braverman and his ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus about the row, and has asked for “more information” before making a decision on whether a probe is needed.
No formal inquiry has yet been launched into whether she breached the ministerial code by asking civil servants about private courses, it is understood.
Mr Sunak was seen patting his home secretary on the back as he arrived in the Commons on Monday in an apparent show of support. He said he had asked for “more information” having spoken to both Ms Braverman and Sir Laurie.
A Downing Street spokesman said Mr Sunak was still “availing himself of all the information” about the situation and wants to make sure a “proper process” is followed.
Former top civil servant Sir Philip Rycroft accused Ms Braverman of a “real lapse of judgement” – and said she should quit if found to have breached the ministerial code. “This, on the face of it, I think, is a breach of the ministerial code,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Westminster Hour.
The former permanent secretary at the Brexit department said: “The code is very clear. Ministers must ensure that no conflict arises or appears to arise between their public duties and their private interests.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Ms Braverman should quit if found to have breached the ministerial code by asking civil servants to arrange a private speed awareness course for her.
Sir Keir said he did not want to get “ahead of himself” in calling for Mrs Braverman to resign, but said: “I think if she’s breached the ministerial code she should go ... in the end it’s the ministerial code that matters.”
Ms Braverman denied trying to “evade” punishment when repeatedly challenged by opposition MPs on the issue. Asked by Labour’s Emma Lewell-Buck if she agreed that no-one should be “above the law”. The home secretary said: “Last summer I was speeding. I regret that.
She added: “I paid the fine and I took the penalty. And at no point did I tried to evade sanction.”
Sir Laurie cannot begin an investigation into any minister’s conduct without Mr Sunak – who returned from the G7 summit in Japan early on Monday – signing off an inquiry.
Mr Sunak is also expected to speak to cabinet secretary Simon Case following suggestions it was the Cabinet Office that ordered Home Office officials not to offer Mrs Braverman advice on securing a private course.
The row stems from a Sunday Times report that Ms Braverman asked Home Office civil servants to help arrange a one-to-one driving awareness course, rather than the group session usually offered to motorists for minor speeding offences.
Officials are said to have refused the request, so Ms Braverman allegedly turned to a political aide to assist her in attempting to arrange an alternative to a course with members of the public.
The speeding offence reportedly took place on a road outside London last year when Ms Braverman was serving as attorney general. But it was not until she became home secretary during Liz Truss’s brief premiership that the senior Tory called on the civil service for advice.
Allies of Ms Braverman have claimed she is being targeted as part of a smear campaign. Craig Mackinlay MP told The Independent that the row over Ms Braverman’s speeding fine is a “total storm in a teacup”.
The right-wing Tory suggested critics of the home secretary are “following the Raab playbook” – referring to civil servants complaints about the former deputy PM Dominic Raab.
Fellow Braverman backer Miriam Cates said “Suella has done nothing wrong” and claimed “someone is clearly seeking to play the man not the ball”.
However, senior Tory Tobias Ellwood told Times Radio that ministers shouldn’t “pull strings” to cover-up rule breaking. The defence committee chairman also said he finds it “baffling” that Ms Braverman is “stirring the right” of the party, which “smacks of disloyalty”.
Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA union representing senior officials, told Sky News: “Civil servants are publicly-funded. They’re not there to support the personal interests of a minister. They don’t do their shopping… and they don’t sort out their speeding fine.”
Meanwhile, according to The Mirror, Ms Braverman’s special adviser repeatedly denied that she had been caught speeding when a reporter from the newspaper put the suggestion to them last month.
The newspaper has published a transcript of the exchange, but the aide has declined to comment on the report. A No 10 spokesman said “of course” Mr Sunak believes special advisers should tell the truth to journalists.
Downing Street said the PM believes that “integrity, professionalism and accountability are core values” – but would not be drawn on whether the special adviser had failed to tell the truth.
