THE Home Secretary reportedly asked whether she could claim a speeding ticket on expenses, a Tory MP has revealed.
William Wragg shared the anecdote on social media in the early hours of Saturday morning and posted a picture of Big Ben following the tweet thread.
Suella Braverman and Wragg both attended a presentation given to new MPs on their first day in parliament by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA).
READ MORE: Scottish Tories ‘crying crocodile tears’ over Lord Frost’s attack
Wragg, the MP for Hazel Grove in Greater Manchester, wrote: “My clearest recollection of our Home Secretary’s legal acumen came from day one as an MP. We had a presentation from IPSA UK.
“Her question to IPSA concerned whether a speeding ticket occurred during the course of parliamentary duties could be claimed on expenses," Wragg claimed.
"Rather embarrassed, the representative from IPSA said no.”
He then wrote: “Thank goodness our Nation has been blessed with such a fine Attorney General and Home Secretary.”
Wragg described being struck by the “lamentable hopelessness of the Home Secretary”.
This evening, having kept quiet for a while, I was struck by the lamentable hopelessness of the Home Secretary, remembering particularly her first week or so as a Member of Parliament pic.twitter.com/Sp5BNWwYl2
— William Wragg MP (@William_Wragg) April 22, 2023
The Tory is to step down as an MP at the next election having represented his constituency since 2015.
The Home Secretary and the Home Office have been contacted for comment.
IPSA regulates what MPs may claim on expenses which are funded by taxpayers - as well as the amount of money granted for an expense.
Wragg returned to Twitter on Saturday afternoon to explain his series of tweets which he defined as “a symptom of my patience snapping”.
He wrote: “For context, I've become increasingly concerned and depressed by the toxicity of the debate around immigration and asylum, which, I’m sorry to say, has been worsened by the Home Secretary.
“Previous tweets were a symptom of my patience snapping. Although true, being cheeky and off-hand doesn't aid good public discourse, which is something we should all strive to maintain. I hope everyone has a nice weekend, remembering we tend to have more in common.”
READ MORE: Sharp crisis proves something is ‘profoundly wrong’ with BBC, says expert
On Friday, Braverman laid amendments to the Illegal Migration Bill designed to make it more difficult for domestic and international courts to have a say in how the UK Government controls the country’s borders.
With the controversial legislation due to return to Parliament next week, she urged MPs to bring the Bill “into force as soon as possible so we can stop the boats”.
Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, the Cabinet minister said that for Britain to be “truly sovereign” it needed to be able to “decide who enters our territory and on what terms”.
One of the changes the Home Secretary wants to make to the Bill, which is aimed at preventing migrants from crossing the English Channel on small boats and crushing the human trafficking trade, is that ministers would be able to decide whether or not to accept a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel