UK prime minister Rishi Sunak has been fined for not wearing a seatbelt in a moving car while he was filming an Instagram video.
Sunak had filmed the video in the back of a car earlier in the week while he was in Lancashire on a trip across the north of England.
In the video, which was later deleted from his Instagram account, Sunak can be seen turning to the camera, without his seatbelt on, to talk about the government’s new Levelling Up fund, a program for investing in local communities and creating jobs.
The video drew attention on social media as people swiftly pointed out he was not wearing his seatbelt.
Police in Lancashire said on Friday Jan. 20 it had fined a 42-year-old man from London for failing to buckle up.
“You will be aware that a video has been circulating on social media showing an individual failing to wear a seatbelt while a passenger in a moving car in Lancashire,” Lancashire police wrote on Facebook.
“After looking into this matter, we have today issued a 42-year-old man from London with a conditional offer of fixed penalty.”
Sunak’s office said he would pay the penalty but did not say how much it was.
Under British law, violators can be fined up to £500 (US$620).
“The prime minister fully accepts this was a mistake and has apologized,” Sunak’s office said in a statement. “He will of course comply with the fixed penalty.”
This is the second time Sunak has been fined while working in the government.
Last April, he was fined, along with then prime minister Boris Johnson, for breaking COVID-19 laws and attending a lockdown party at Johnson’s residence on Downing Street.
This makes Sunak the second sitting UK prime minister in history to be fined by police after Johnson.
