UK Home Secretary denies ‘untoward’ meddling over speeding ticket

LONDON (AP) — Britain's interior minister on Monday brushed off reports that she tried to pull strings after getting a speeding ticket, saying “nothing untoward” had gone on.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said that after being caught speeding last year, she paid a fine and received demerit points on her license.

Braverman was Britain's attorney general at the time.

The Sunday Times reported that Braverman had asked civil servants to arrange a private speed-awareness session for her, rather than the usual group course for drivers who commit minor offences.

The newspaper said civil servants refused to get involved.

Braverman declined to confirm or deny that she'd asked civil servants to intervene.

“Last summer, I was speeding. I regret that. I paid the fine and I took the points,” she said, adding that “I'm confident that nothing untoward has happened.”

Braverman is a favorite of the right wing of the governing Conservative Party who has championed the UK's controversial plan to send asylum-seekers who cross the English Channel on a one-way trip to Rwanda.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is considering whether to order a formal ethics investigation.

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