David Lammy enjoyed a friendly meeting with JD Vance last week at Chevening, the Foreign Secretary’s plush country house in Kent. Before trying to iron out their differences on foreign policy, the two found time for some bonding. The reports were that Vance and Lammy were planning to pray together, but a graver matter has hit the headlines: they went fishing.

It turns out that Lammy didn’t purchase a rod license, required for almost all fishing in England. The license would’ve cost him as little as £7.30, but now he faces the prospect of a £2,500 fine. A spokesperson put the mistake down to an “administrative oversight”, but Lammy has since belatedly bought the licenses and referred himself to the Environment Agency.

All fish caught on the fateful day were returned to Chevening’s private lake. But given that six unlicensed anglers were fined a total of £2,182 last February, the agency might feel pressured not to let the Foreign Secretary off the hook so easily. And Lammy would have to agree with them, if his previous statements on rule-breaking politicians are anything to go by…

Partygate

In April 2022, then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak both apologized and agreed to pay fines for breaking lockdown rules after attending an event marking the former’s birthday. Johnson gave his “full apology”, while Sunak offered an “unreserved” one. Lammy, then Shadow Foreign Secretary, was not impressed, tweeting: “Criminality and lies at the heart of government. Led by the Prime Minister and the Chancellor.” He added: “Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak must resign now for breaking the laws they enforced on us all.”

Matt Hancock

Covid had Lammy on the hunt for other rule-flouters too, and Matt Hancock was always going to be an easy target. The Health Secretary was caught in May 2022 embracing his aide Gina Coladelangelo, despite enforcing social distancing on everybody else.

Lammy co-signed a letter to the attorney general, requesting a criminal investigation. In an accompanying tweet, he wrote: “Why have there been no criminal proceedings to look into whether Matt Hancock broke the law, despite the damning evidence we have all seen? We cannot have one rule for government ministers and another for everyone else.”

Prorogation

Partygate wasn’t Boris Johnson’s first brush with Lammy and the law. In September 2019 the then-PM was found by the Supreme Court to have unlawfully suspended Parliament, having wanted to avoid scrutiny from MPs as he pushed through his Brexit plans. Lammy, again, was not too happy, tweeting: “Boris Johnson broke the law and lied to the Queen. Now open the doors of Parliament and resign.”

A tweet leading up to the Supreme Court decision also hasn’t aged well. After the Scottish High Court ruled prorogation unlawful, Lammy called on both Johnson and Number 10 advisor Dominic Cummings to resign, proclaiming: “No one is above the law.”