Rishi Sunak still considering Suella Braverman probe as SNP claim situation 'absolute farce' and Tory MPs claim leak 'undermines democracy'

Rishi Sunak is still considering ordering an investigation into Suella Braverman after she asked officials to help arrange a private speed awareness course.

Caught speeding, the home secretary has been accused of breaching the ministerial code by asking taxpayer-funded civil servants to assist with a private matter.

Labour have now sought to pile pressure on Ms Braverman by bringing an urgent question to the Commons on the matter, something which in turn prompted a series of furious defences from the Tory backbenches.

The party’s deputy leader Angela Rayner asked “how many strikes” before the home secretary is “out”?

She said: “After days of dither and delay … the Prime Minister still hasn’t decided whether there should be an investigation by his ethics adviser. When can we expect to know what the Prime Minister is thinking on this matter?”

Cabinet Office minister Jeremy Quin told MPs: “The Prime Minister made clear to the House yesterday that he is receiving information on the issues raised. Since returning from the G7, the Prime Minister has met both the independent adviser and the home secretary and asked for further information.

“It is right that the Prime Minister, as the head of the executive and the arbiter of the ministerial code, be allowed time to receive relevant information on this matter. Honourable members will be updated on this in due course.”

SNP MP Kirsty Blackman labelled the scandal a “descent into absolute farce”. She told the Commons: “Instead of professionalism, accountability and integrity that the Prime Minister promised when he came into office, we are faced with calamity, chaos and corruption.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has once again been accused of breaking the ministerial code.

"How can the Prime Minister continue to pretend that he’s presiding over a Government with anything other than their own personal interests at heart?”

Her accusations came as Downing Street also faced questions about reports Ms Braverman failed to disclose previous work with the Rwandan government, helping co-found a charity that trained Rwandan government lawyers between 2010 and 2015.

MPs also heard from a series of Tory MPs, who used their questions to dismiss the incident, with Tory backbencher Miriam Cates suggesting it was damaging to democracy.

She said: “Does [he] agree with me that this leak is a clear attempt to play the woman, not the ball, an attempt that undermines our democracy and distracts from the important job of delivering on ordinary people’s priorities.”

Conservative Sir Edward Leigh suggested the criticism was down to Ms Braverman’s promise to lower immigration.

He said: “What’s wrong with this country? We used to have proper scandals about sex or money, or about prime ministers invading Iraq on dodgy evidence in which hundreds of thousands of people died.

“Apparently this is a scandal, all this moral outrage is ludicrous that a minister asked her private office about something and she takes their advice … we all know what’s this all about, they’re attacking a good home secretary who is trying to attack the real scandal of mass immigration to this country.”

Ms Braverman has not denied asking officials for help in trying to arrange a one-to-one speed awareness course rather than joining fellow motorists on the programme, which allows people with minor offences to avoid getting points on their licences.