London Thanasis Gavos

UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman is under pressure from the opposition and the media over yet another possible breach of the ministerial code.

According to a revelation by the Sunday Times, the minister asked state officials to arrange one-on-one driving lessons for her after she received a speeding summons last summer. Group driving lessons in Britain are a way for offenders to avoid penalty points on their driving licence. Circles around the minister reported that she wanted to examine the possibility of individual lessons for security reasons.

The potential breach of the ministerial code is that government political officials are prohibited from asking independent government officials to work on matters unrelated to government policy.

In a brief statement to television cameras at noon on Monday, Ms. Braverman said she received a summons, paid the fine, was charged the penalty points and was therefore “very confident” there was nothing untoward in the whole affair.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, however, has sought the opinion of the independent ministerial conduct adviser on whether there has been a breach of the ministerial code.

A possible ouster of Ms Braverman from the government has been described by British political editors as a “minefield” for Mr Sunak, as the Home Secretary has remained the most senior representative of the Conservative Party’s most conservative wing.

At the same time, Ms Braverman has made no secret of her leadership ambitions, having already contested twice for the leadership of the Tories with a central position on the strictest immigration policy.

It is the second such case involving the minister, who was forced to resign from the same cabinet within days of Liz Truss’ short-lived government being formed over another breach of the ministerial code.

Specifically, she had sent an official government document to a Conservative MP from her personal email account.

Supporters of Ms. Braverman speak of a “witch hunt” over her immigration positions.