THE Home Secretary reportedly asked whether she could claim a speeding ticket on expenses, a Tory MP has revealed.
William Wragg shared the anecdote on social media in the early hours of Saturday morning and posted a picture of Big Ben following the tweet thread.
Suella Braverman and Wragg both attended a presentation given to new MPs on their first day in parliament by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA).
Wragg, the MP for Hazel Grove in Greater Manchester, wrote: “My clearest recollection of our Home Secretary’s legal acumen came from day one as an MP. We had a presentation from IPSA UK.
“Her question to IPSA concerned whether a speeding ticket occurred during the course of parliamentary duties could be claimed on expenses," Wragg claimed.
"Rather embarrassed, the representative from IPSA said no.”
He then wrote: “Thank goodness our Nation has been blessed with such a fine Attorney General and Home Secretary.”
Wragg described being struck by the “lamentable hopelessness of the Home Secretary”.
This evening, having kept quiet for a while, I was struck by the lamentable hopelessness of the Home Secretary, remembering particularly her first week or so as a Member of Parliament pic.twitter.com/Sp5BNWwYl2
— William Wragg MP (@William_Wragg) April 22, 2023
The Tory is to step down as an MP at the next election having represented his constituency since 2015.
The Home Secretary and the Home Office have been contacted for comment.
IPSA regulates what MPs may claim on expenses which are funded by taxpayers - as well as the amount of money granted for an expense.
Wragg returned to Twitter on Saturday afternoon to explain his series of tweets which he defined as “a symptom of my patience snapping”.
He wrote: “For context, I've become increasingly concerned and depressed by the toxicity of the debate around immigration and asylum, which, I’m sorry to say, has been worsened by the Home Secretary.
“Previous tweets were a symptom of my patience snapping. Although true, being cheeky and off-hand doesn't aid good public discourse, which is something we should all strive to maintain. I hope everyone has a nice weekend, remembering we tend to have more in common.”
On Friday, Braverman laid amendments to the Illegal Migration Bill designed to make it more difficult for domestic and international courts to have a say in how the UK Government controls the country’s borders.
With the controversial legislation due to return to Parliament next week, she urged MPs to bring the Bill “into force as soon as possible so we can stop the boats”.
Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, the Cabinet minister said that for Britain to be “truly sovereign” it needed to be able to “decide who enters our territory and on what terms”.
One of the changes the Home Secretary wants to make to the Bill, which is aimed at preventing migrants from crossing the English Channel on small boats and crushing the human trafficking trade, is that ministers would be able to decide whether or not to accept a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
