British PM Sunak gets fined by police for failing to wear seatbelt

British police issued Prime Minister Rishi Sunak with a fine on Friday for riding in a car without wearing his seatbelt in order to film a clip for social media.

Sunak, who apologised on Thursday for what he called a "brief error of judgement," filmed a video in the back seat of his car while travelling in the north of England, without wearing a seatbelt.

"Following the circulation of a video on social media showing an individual failing to wear a seatbelt while a passenger in a moving car in Lancashire we have today issued a 42-year-old man from London with a conditional offer of fixed penalty," Lancashire Police said on Twitter.

In Thursday's video, produced for distribution on Sunak's social media channels, the seatbeltless Conservative leader speaks from the back seat of a moving car about his policies for boosting growth during a trip to Lancashire in England's north. Failing to wear a seatbelt is punishable by a fine of up to £500 ($619).

A Lancashire police spokesperson said authorities were "aware of the matter and we will be looking into it."

A spokesman for Downing Street said that Sunak "fully accepts this was a mistake and apologises." "The prime minister believes everyone should wear a seatbelt," the spokesman added.

"It was an error of judgment. He removed it for a short period of time to film a clip, which you've seen, but he accepts that was a mistake."

Sunak's transportation habits had already been a talking point in the United Kingdom, with his political rivals taking aim at his use of a jet to make multiple short flights in recent days.

Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner said: "Rishi Sunak's expensive private jet habit is costing the environment and the taxpayer dear."

A spokesperson, however, defended the decision, saying Sunak used "different modes of transport depending on what's... the best use of his time to enable him to get around the entire UK."

Sunak’s travel arrangements also drew criticism after it emerged he took a 28-minute flight on a taxpayer-funded jet from northwest to northeast England as he promoted government funding for community projects on Thursday.

AFP / AP