London Mayor candidate says his campaign bus is ‘safest in the country’ after getting £200 fine

London mayoral candidate Brian Rose claims he was on the “safest bus in Britain” when he was fined for breaking lockdown rules.

The former Wall Street banker was fined £200 and told that “campaigning was not a necessary reason to be out” by police.

Rose was filming promotional material for the upcoming mayoral election, in which he is running as an independent candidate, when he was stopped by police. He reportedly claims that he had valid parking and filming permits at the time and is contesting his fine.

He also claimed that the digital campaign bus on which he is travelling around London is “Covid-secure”. He said:

“If leafleting is safe, then my Covid-secure bus is safe. It may well be the safest bus in Britain, particularly when compared with the public transport which many key workers are forced to use.”

Rose’s comments came shortly after the Liberal Democrats defended their campaigners who continued to deliver campaign leaflets during the national lockdown, citing an exemption for voluntary organisations.

But the Cabinet Office said doorstep campaigning  is currently “neither essential nor necessary”.

The elections for London mayor are set to go ahead in May.

Rose, a podcaster and YouTuber, is the host of TV channel London Real.

He has generated controversy before, including by interviewing conspiracy theorist David Icke and calling the government’s Covid-19 response “disproportionate”. 

He filmed his experience of being spoken to by police and has incorporated his “arrest” into campaign material.

Rose is reportedly the second-favourite to win the mayoral election behind incumbent Sadiq Khan, according to gambling company Paddy Power.