Vicky Pryce ‘bullied into taking speeding points’

• Chris Huhne’s ex-wife was bullied into taking the former MP’s speeding points, a court heard today

• Vicky Pryce confided in her eldest daughter Georgia Beesley in 2003

Vicky Pryce’s eldest daughter Georgia Beesley said her mother told her in 2003 that Huhne had bullied her into taking the points, claiming if she did not and he lost his licence, then he would lose the election for the Eastleigh seat and it would be her fault.

Mrs Beesley said her mother told her in late spring or early summer 2003, when she was about 25, about Huhne demanding she take the points.

She did not live with Pryce and Huhne at the time, but lived nearby and would speak to her mother once or twice a week, she said.

“I remember speaking to my mother and she told me that Chris had been caught speeding and was asking her to take speeding points,” she said.

“If he had taken the points he would have lost his licence. He was very insistent that she take the points for him.”

Pryce is standing trial accused of perverting the course of justice by taking the speeding points in 2003. She denies the charge, saying she was bullied into it by her then-husband.

Giving evidence, her daughter told Southwark Crown Court: “He didn’t want to lose his licence, he was standing for election and had to travel regularly to Eastleigh.

“And he would say to her that if she didn’t take them he would not be able to drive, that he would lose his licence, and that it would be her fault if he didn’t get elected.”

She said her mother was “very upset, very angry”, and “obviously didn’t want to take the points”.

Mrs Beesley said she could not remember if her mother asked for advice but said she “definitely told her that she should not take the points”.

“We spoke about how she felt and what was happening at home and I remember her saying that every conversation Chris was insisting that she took the points, that he just went on and on and said things like it wasn’t a big deal and why wouldn’t she do it.

“He couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t do it.”

She said her mother told her that Huhne had nominated her as the driver without telling her, and when it arrived, she was already named as the driver.

“I know she felt pressured into signing the form,” she said, and said the issue resurfaced as Huhne lost his licence anyway that summer.

He was caught talking on his mobile phone whilst driving on March 28, 2003, and was disqualified.

“He lost his licence anyway that summer and mum had to drive him whenever he needed driving,” said Mrs Beesley.

“A lot of comments were made around that time, ‘I have got to drive you anyway, even though I took the points’.

“There was quite a bit of resentment.”

She said her mother was “very upset she had had to do something she really didn’t want to do and the outcome was exactly the same”.