LONDON - UK Home Secretary Suella Braverman denied any impropriety over the handling of a speeding ticket that has again put her at the centre of controversy about alleged rule-breaking.
Rishi Sunak promised to restore integrity to government when he became prime minister last year, after the turbulent premierships of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.
But Braverman -- a Brexit hardliner criticised for her outspoken rhetoric on immigration -- is now facing calls for a potentially career-ending ethics inquiry.
The interior minister in charge of law enforcement asked her officials to set up a one-to-one driving awareness course, instead of taking penalty points on her licence, according to newspaper reports Sunday.
READ: God speed: Archbishop of Canterbury hit with motoring fine
That has led to opposition claims that she may have breached the ministerial code of conduct by requesting non-political civil servants to help deal with a private matter.
Braverman downplayed the row in comments to media and to parliament.
"Last summer, I was speeding. I regret that," she told the House of Commons, referring back to when she was attorney general before becoming home secretary under Liz Truss in September.
"I paid the fine and I accepted the points, and at no point did I seek to evade the sanction," Braverman insisted.
But she thrice refused to answer when pressed by opposition parties about what she had directed civil servants to do on her behalf.
Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA union which represents senior officials, said: "Civil servants are publicly funded... They're not there to support the personal interests of a minister.
"They don't do their shopping, they don't look after their children and they don't sort out their speeding fine."