Rishi Sunak not wearing a seatbelt.

Grantonow
So where is the line for a minor offence?
Btw I can think of the big stuff and the minor offences

Yammy

Ilovecheese

He has done a lot worse things than this.

Haven't we all done it at some time if we admit it? I once dropped an animal off at the vet to be Put down . When we got home neither my DD nor myself had put our seat belts on, we were too upset thinking of the animal. I have also been to funerals where people have got out of the back of cars when it was obvious they had not fastened their seat belts. Their mind wasn't on their own safety.
So he's made a mistake he'll pay the fine and make sure he hopefully doesn't do it again. Many of us know people have been fined for speeding paid to watch the film and gone on to do it again. Human is the word that comes to mind.
He just needs to learn a lesson.

No, I don't think I have.

I passed my driving test over 50 years ago and I wore a seatbelt from the beginning. I've always insisted front seat passengers wear one - and back seat ones too since it became the law.

Yammy

One swallow never made a flock, all these sanctimonious comments people need to think hard about the times they have either inadvertently or on purpose broken the law . Had a parking ticket passed to them instead of buying a new ticket? Kept the pound in the trolley when someone left it?I could go on. Yes, it was dangerous for him and others and he has paid his fine.

Whenever has keeping a trolley pound endangered anyone?

I'd put it in the charity box but then I tend to be sanctimonious.

Had a parking ticket passed to them instead of buying a new ticket? You have to key in your car number which is printed on the ticket 🤔

Grantanow

A minor offence. Going down this rabbit hole takes the focus off 12 years of Tory misrule and underfunding of the NHS which they are now trying to charge patients for. Javid is flying the kite about GP and A&E charges to see if they can get away with it. What happened to the Brexit bus money?

I agree it's a distraction from much bigger issues, but for Sunak it's not a good look to appear to be above the law.

Yammy

One swallow never made a flock, all these sanctimonious comments people need to think hard about the times they have either inadvertently or on purpose broken the law . Had a parking ticket passed to them instead of buying a new ticket? Kept the pound in the trolley when someone left it?I could go on. Yes, it was dangerous for him and others and he has paid his fine.

What's sanctimonious about not wanting to be thrown through a windscreen if you have a crash?

DaisyAnne

Callistemon21

That reminded of the advert about the Mum who was driving, son in the back without a seatbelt on.
She has to brake suddenly, the result is shocking.

"Julie knew her killer"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKHY69AFstE

Perhaps it's time they started re-running these adverts.

I remember the shock the first time I saw it!

I remember being involved in a motorway accident before there were seatbelts in the backs of cars - luckily our DC fell into the well of the car and weren't injured. The little one was strapped into a car seat and slept through it all.

Callistemon21

Yammy

One swallow never made a flock, all these sanctimonious comments people need to think hard about the times they have either inadvertently or on purpose broken the law . Had a parking ticket passed to them instead of buying a new ticket? Kept the pound in the trolley when someone left it?I could go on. Yes, it was dangerous for him and others and he has paid his fine.

Whenever has keeping a trolley pound endangered anyone?

I'd put it in the charity box but then I tend to be sanctimonious.

Had a parking ticket passed to them instead of buying a new ticket? You have to key in your car number which is printed on the ticket 🤔

I don't think I've ever been lucky enough to find a pound in a trolley. I use a metal disk I keep in my purse - and get my own disk back at the end.

Mollygo

^Optics matter when you're a leader and he shouldn't be seen as behaving in a way he doesn't expect of everybody else in the country.^
That’s why he was fined.

Good! I agree it's not a major crime. What matters is that he seems to think laws don't apply to him. It's part of a bigger picture.

Although he certainly did the action, are you sure he thought, “It’s OK for me to break the law,” when he took the belt off?
Now if you’re talking about having parties during Covid . . .

Says a lot about his judgement. If he thought the nation seeing him minus his seat belt was ok, or more to the point - probably didn’t even give it any thought, what other important issues is he giving little thought to or making poor judgements on?

Mollygo

Although he certainly did the action, are you sure he thought, “It’s OK for me to break the law,” when he took the belt off?
Now if you’re talking about having parties during Covid . . .

I have no idea what he was thinking, but I don't see why that's relevant. It's the law to wear a seatbelt in a car and it should be automatic. No excuses!

Sunak gives the impression of not connecting with the lives of ordinary people - in politics, that matters.

Sunak gives the impression of not connecting with the lives of ordinary people - in politics, that matters.

I said that ages ago in this discussion. Presumably optics don't matter to many.

I think that Sunak is just oblivious to them (optics, I mean)

growstuff

Callistemon21

Yammy

One swallow never made a flock, all these sanctimonious comments people need to think hard about the times they have either inadvertently or on purpose broken the law . Had a parking ticket passed to them instead of buying a new ticket? Kept the pound in the trolley when someone left it?I could go on. Yes, it was dangerous for him and others and he has paid his fine.

Whenever has keeping a trolley pound endangered anyone?

I'd put it in the charity box but then I tend to be sanctimonious.

Had a parking ticket passed to them instead of buying a new ticket? You have to key in your car number which is printed on the ticket 🤔

I don't think I've ever been lucky enough to find a pound in a trolley. I use a metal disk I keep in my purse - and get my own disk back at the end.

DH has one.

Perhaps the Pope could be prime minister.

Callistemon21

That reminded of the advert about the Mum who was driving, son in the back without a seatbelt on.
She has to brake suddenly, the result is shocking.

"Julie knew her killer"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKHY69AFstE

gosh yes, I still remember this advert too

I have no idea what he was thinking, but I don't see why that's relevant. It's the law to wear a seatbelt in a car and it should be automatic. No excuses!
It’s not an excuse. I’ve already said I think he was wrong and he should have been fined, which he was.
I can’t go so far as to say I know what he was thinking. So I can’t accuse him of something that no-one can prove is true. Thought police is a scary idea.

Thought Police.

That would be awful, wouldn't it?

police will not need to wait for disruption to take place and can shut protests down before chaos erupts

www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-takes-action-to-stop-disruptive-protests

rafichagran

I cant get worked up about this, he did it, he has been fined, let's move on. Far more things to worry about.

For the life of me I can't work out how/why he wasn't wearing a seatbelt. However, he apologised and will pay a fine, enough.

MaizieD

^Sunak gives the impression of not connecting with the lives of ordinary people - in politics, that matters.^

I said that ages ago in this discussion. Presumably optics don't matter to many.

I think that Sunak is just oblivious to them (optics, I mean)

I feel the same every time I see a thread about Harry and Meghan or trans rights. People don't actually seem to care about important issues. We truly live in a "bread and circuses" society.

FWIW I don't care that much about Sunak's seatbelt. I do care about his family's tax affairs and the rumour that his FiL has just been given a big government contract.

I didn't care that much about Dominic Cummings going to stay with his family. I do care that he was given so much power.

I didn't care that much about Matt Hancock fondling somebody's bum (can't remember her name). I do care that he handed out contracts to his cronies.

I didn't care that much about Johnson eating a piece of cake or his wife's wallpaper, except that the parties seemed to be a regular occurrence. I do care that he's a liar and chancer, who couldn't care less about the country.

I care about the allegations of bullying by senior politicians, many of which just get swept under the carpet and the victims are smeared as "snowflakes".

Maybe I'm a little quaint, but I would like our politicians to have decent moral values and to uphold the law, even minor ones. I would like the people who vote for them to think about whom they're voting for.

Mollygo

*I have no idea what he was thinking, but I don't see why that's relevant. It's the law to wear a seatbelt in a car and it should be automatic. No excuses!*
It’s not an excuse. I’ve already said I think he was wrong and he should have been fined, which he was.
I can’t go so far as to say I know what he was thinking. So I can’t accuse him of something that no-one can prove is true. Thought police is a scary idea.

Do you understand what "optics" are in politics?

volver

^Twitter have a picture of Starmer doing the same.^

Which was apparently taken about 27 years ago before the law came in. (I exaggerate, but it was before the law came in)

Must try harder.

Just for clarity on the law. It came in force 31st January 1983, except for a week or so nigh on 40 years ago.

1991.

www.gov.uk/government/news/thirty-years-of-seatbelt-safety

That's his second fixed penalty notice. Silly me I was under the impression that our government should uphold the law not break it. Must've got that one wrong then!

40 years ago, history was made when the UK Parliament passed legislation to make seatbelt wearing compulsory where fitted in the front of cars

where fitted

It was opposed by the Conservative Government and the Labour Official Opposition but, late in the evening of 28th July 1981, after 13 failed attempts by backbenchers in both Houses, a House of Lords amendment by Lord Nugent of Guildford, succeeded in the Commons. It was the result of years of campaigning by medical and safety organisations.

Germanshepherdsmum

Perhaps the Pope could be prime minister.

Even Popes and their monks, Monseigneurs and Vatican staff have been known to ‘make mistakes’
😇