U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was fined by police on Friday (January 20, 2023) for taking off his seat belt to film a social media video in a moving car. Sunak, 42, has apologized for making an “error of judgment” while recording a message for Instagram from the back of an official government car during a visit to northwest England on Thursday. The Lancashire Police force said it had looked into video “circulating on social media showing an individual failing to wear a seat belt while a passenger in a moving car in Lancashire.” The force said, without naming Sunak, that it had “issued a 42-year-old man from London with a conditional offer of fixed penalty.” Also read: UK’s Sunak vows to halve inflation, tackle illegal migration Failing to wear a seat belt is punishable by a penalty of up to 500 pounds ($620), though fixed penalty notices for such offenses are usually 100 pounds ($124) if paid promptly. The conditional offer means that the person fined accepts guilt but doesn’t have to go to court. Police didn’t say how much Sunak was fined. Sunak’s office said in a statement that “the prime minister fully accepts this was a mistake and has apologized. He will of course comply with the fixed penalty.” Read More: Sunak won’t go to UN climate conference: UK It’s the second time Sunak has been fined during his political career. Last year, when he was Treasury chief, he was fined 50 pounds for breaching pandemic lockdown rules by briefly attending a party inside government offices. He was one of dozens of officials fined over the “partygate” scandal, including then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Sunak took office as U.K. leader in October, promising “integrity, professionalism and accountability” after a tumultuous few years that saw Johnson ousted by multiple scandals and his successor Liz Truss toppled after her policies rocked the U.K. economy.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday greeted new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak saying she looks forward to working closely with him in further strengthening  “our long-standing political, economic, and strategic partnerships”. ‘I, on behalf of the Government and the people of Bangladesh, extend the heartiest congratulations to Your Excellency on your assumption of the Office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,” she said in a congratulatory letter. She also said: “It makes me happy to see a young Briton of South Asian heritage of your credentials and dynamism in this top leadership position. I wish your excellence in serving the British people and promoting peace worldwide shall be a testament to your visionary leadership.” She stressed that Bangladesh and the United Kingdom enjoy historic relations deeply rooted in shared values of democracy, secularism, and tolerance.  “Over time our robust cooperation in trade, investment, and sustainable development has grown from strength to strength. On top of everything, the more vibrant Bangladesh-British Diaspora in the UK serves as the common treasure for developing the two countries.” PM Hasina mentioned that this year Bangladesh and Britain celebrated 50 years of friendship between the two Commonwealth nations. She wished Sunak the best of health, happiness, and success while rendering his high responsibility and peace, progress, and prosperity for the people of the United Kingdom.

Rishi Sunak has announced that he has accepted King Charles III’s request to form a new cabinet as the new Prime Minister of UK. Like yesterday, Sunak begins his remarks on television by paying tribute to Liz Truss, his predecessor, reports BBC. Sunak said, “It is only right to explain why I am standing here as your new prime minister.” “Right now our country is facing a profound economic crisis.” “The aftermath of Covid still lingers.” Sunak praised Truss and claimed that her desire to enhance growth in UK was not misguided since “it’s a noble aim”. He claimed that while he appreciated her drive to bring about change, “some mistakes were made”. “I will unite our country not with words but with action,” said Sunak. “I will work day in and day out to deliver for you.” “Trust is earned and I will earn yours,” he says. According to Sunak, the UK government will operate with honesty, competence, and responsibility at every level.

Liz Truss became U.K. prime minister on Tuesday and immediately faced up to the enormous tasks ahead of her: curbing soaring prices, boosting the economy, easing labor unrest and fixing a national health care system burdened by long waiting lists and staff shortages. Truss quickly began appointing senior members of her Cabinet as she tackles an inbox dominated by the energy crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which threatens to push energy bills to unaffordable levels, shuttering businesses and leaving the nation’s poorest people shivering at home this winter. Truss — Britain’s third female prime minister — named a top team diverse in gender and ethnicity, but loyal to her and her free-market politics. Kwasi Kwarteng becomes the first Black U.K. Treasury chief, and Therese Coffey its first female deputy prime minister. Other appointments include James Cleverly as foreign secretary and Suella Braverman as home secretary, responsible for immigration and law and order. Making her debut speech outside her new Downing Street home in a break between torrential downpours, Truss said she would cut taxes to spur economic growth, bolster the National Health Service and “deal hands on” with the energy crisis, though she offered few details about how she would implement those policies. She is expected to unveil her energy plans on Thursday. British news media reported that Truss plans to cap energy bills. The cost to taxpayers of that step could reach 100 billion pounds ($116 billion). “We shouldn’t be daunted by the challenges we face,” Truss said in her first speech as prime minister. “As strong as the storm may be, I know the British people are stronger.” Read: Liz Truss: UK's incoming PM who models herself on Iron Lady Thatcher Truss, 47, took office earlier in the day at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, when Queen Elizabeth II formally asked her to form a new government in a ceremony dictated by centuries of tradition. Outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson formally resigned during his own audience with the queen a short time earlier, two months after he had announced his intention to step down. It was the first time in the queen’s 70-year reign that the handover of power took place at Balmoral, rather than Buckingham Palace in London. The ceremony was moved to Scotland to provide certainty about the schedule, because the 96-year-old queen has experienced problems getting around that have forced palace officials to make decisions about her travel on a day-to-day basis. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy received a call from Truss on her first day. She spoke with U.S. President Joe Biden, too. Ze;emslyy wrote on Twitter: “I was the first among foreign leaders to have a conversation with the newly elected British Prime Minister, Liz Truss. I invited her to Ukraine. I thanked the people of Britain for their leadership in the military and economic support of Ukraine.” Biden, who worked closely with Johnson in confronting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, was quick to congratulate Truss. “I look forward to deepening the special relationship between our countries and working in close cooperation on global challenges, including continued support for Ukraine as it defends itself against Russian aggression,” he said on Twitter. Truss’ office said she and Biden discussed the Ukraine war and defense cooperation, as well as economic issues and maintaining the British-Irish Good Friday Agreement. The leaders were expected to meet in person soon — likely around this month’s U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York. Truss became prime minister a day after the ruling Conservative Party chose her as its leader in an election where the party’s 172,000 dues-paying members were the only voters. As party leader, Truss automatically became prime minister without the need for a general election because the Conservatives still have a majority of lawmakers in the House of Commons. But as a national leader selected by less than 0.5% of British adults, Truss is under pressure to show quick results. Ed Davey, leader of the opposition Liberal Democrats, on Tuesday called for an early election in October — something that Truss and the Conservative Party are highly unlikely to do since the Tories are slumping in the polls. Johnson, 58, became prime minister three years ago after his predecessor, Theresa May, failed to deliver Britain’s departure from the European Union. Johnson later won an 80-seat majority in Parliament with the promise to “get Brexit done.” But he was forced out of office by a series of scandals that culminated in the resignation of dozens of Cabinet secretaries and lower-level officials in early July. Read: Ukraine says 4 civilians killed, 7 wounded by Russian shells Always colorful, Johnson said he was “like one of those booster rockets that has fulfilled its function.” “I will now be gently re-entering the atmosphere and splashing down invisibly in some remote and obscure corner of the Pacific,” he said. Many people in Britain are still learning about their new leader, a one-time accountant who entered Parliament in 2010. Unlike Johnson, who made himself a media celebrity long before he became prime minister, Truss rose quietly through the Conservative ranks before she was named foreign secretary, one of the top Cabinet posts, just a year ago. Truss is under pressure to spell out how she plans to help consumers pay household energy bills that are set to rise to an average of 3,500 pounds ($4,000) a year — triple the cost of a year ago — on Oct. 1 unless she intervenes. Rising food and energy prices, driven by the invasion of Ukraine and the aftershocks of COVID-19 and Brexit, have propelled U.K. inflation above 10% for the first time in four decades. The Bank of England forecasts it will hit 13.3% in October, and that the U.K. will slip into a prolonged recession by the end of the year. Train drivers, port staff, garbage collectors, postal workers and lawyers have all staged strikes to demand that pay increases keep pace with inflation, and millions more, from teachers to nurses, could walk out in the next few months. In theory, Truss has time to make her mark: She doesn’t have to call a national election until late 2024. But opinion polls already give the main opposition Labour Party a steady lead, and the worse the economy gets, the more pressure will grow. In addition to Britain’s domestic woes, Truss and her new Cabinet will also face multiple foreign policy crises, including the war in Ukraine and frosty post-Brexit relations with the EU. Truss, as foreign secretary, was a firm supporter of Ukraine’s resistance to Russia. Truss has also pledged to increase U.K. defense spending to 3% of gross domestic product from just over 2% — another expensive promise. Rebecca Macdougal, 55, who works in law enforcement, said outside the Houses of Parliament that time will tell whether Truss can turn things round. “She’s making promises for that, as she says she’s going to deliver, deliver, deliver,” Macdougal noted. “But we will see in, hopefully, the next few weeks there’ll be some announcements which will help the normal working person.”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is quarantining himself after coming into contact with an MP, who had tested positive for COVID-19, a Downing Street spokesman said in a statement Sunday.