Keir Starmer has said Tory Home Secretary Suella Braverman should quit if found to have breached the ministerial code by asking civil servants to arrange a private speed awareness course for her.
Braverman allegedly requested help from officials to arrange a one-to-one course instead of taking penalty points to avoid the public learning that she had been caught speeding.
Motorists caught speeding are usually put on a group awareness course. But Braverman reportedly did not want to do this as other members on the course may have told the press.
Officials are said to have refused the request for a one-to-one course, so the Tory minister turned to a political aide to assist her in attempting to arrange an alternative to a course with members of the public.
Labour leader Starmer said Braverman's actions appear to have been “inappropriate” and she should resign if she is found to have breached the ministerial code.
He told ITV's Good Morning Britain: “I don’t know all the facts but it looks to me as though the Home Secretary’s actions were inappropriate and they should be investigated.”
He said he would remind Rishi Sunak that the Prime Minister talked about “integrity, about transparency and honesty” on entering office and should follow through with a proper independent investigation.
Starmer said he did not want to get “ahead of himself” in calling for 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.”
Sunak is expected to speak to Braverman on Monday following. He will also seek advice from his adviser on ministers’ interests Laurie Magnus.
Magnus cannot begin an investigation into a minister’s conduct without Sunak signing off an inquiry.
A No 10 source said: “The Prime Minister has always followed the proper process in these matters, and will consult the independent adviser upon his return to London.”
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 Braverman advice on securing a private course.
Braverman will appear before MPs for a scheduled question time on Monday afternoon, where she could be challenged about her actions.
A spokesman for the Home Secretary said she regretted speeding and had since accepted the points and paid the fine.
The speeding offence reportedly took place on a road outside London last year when Braverman was serving as attorney general.
But The Sunday Times said 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.
According to The Daily Mirror, the Home Secretary’s special adviser repeatedly denied that Braverman had been caught speeding when a reporter from the newspaper put the suggestion to them last month.
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