Rishi Sunak speaks out on Harry and Meghan ‘near catastrophic car chase’

Rishi Sunak has said ‘cars in New York are not really my priority’ after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said they witnessed a ‘near catastrophic car chase’ in the city.

The couple, and Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland, were involved in the incident after being followed by paparazzi on Tuesday night.

Harry and Meghan had attended an awards ceremony in New York prior to the reported ‘chase’.

The New York Police Department said there were no arrests, injuries or reported collisions but said ‘numerous photographers’ had ‘made their transport difficult’.

When asked by the BBC about Harry and Meghan’s ordeal, Prime Minister said he was ‘not aware of a particular incident in question’.

Mr Sunak is currently in Japan, where he is attending a G7 summit.

Pressed if he has sympathy with a possible invasion of privacy or safety, Mr Sunak said: ‘I think just as all of us do, we want to make sure that we go about our day-to-day lives in safety and security.

‘My job as Prime Minister is to ensure everyone feels safe in our country. That’s why we put 20,000 more police officers on the street. It’s why we’re giving them the powers to tackle things like knife crime.’

But told the incident under discussion happened in the US, Mr Sunak said: ‘Cars in New York are not really my priority or my responsibility.

‘What is my priority and responsibility is people’s safety at home.’

In a statement on Wednesday, a spokesman for Harry and Meghan said the pair and Meghan’s mother ‘were involved in a near catastrophic car chase at the hands of a ring of highly aggressive paparazzi’.

‘This relentless pursuit, lasting over two hours, resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians and two NYPD officers,’ he added.

Tuesday night had been Harry and Meghan’s first public appearance together since the duchess’s absence from the King’s coronation earlier this month.

Of the incident, Chris Sanchez, a member of the couple’s security team, told CNN: ‘The public were in jeopardy at several points. It could have been fatal.’

Harry’s former bodyguard also spoke out on the security operation in place for the couple.

But photographers told celebrity news agency Backgrid USA there were no near-collisions or near-crashes during the incident.

The couple’s taxi driver, speaking with the Washington Post, said he ‘wouldn’t call it a chase’.

Sukhcharn Singh said he picked the couple up in New York and drove them for a brief period, during which it appeared they were pursued by other vehicles.

‘I don’t think I would call it a chase,’ he said.

‘I never felt like I was in danger.

‘It wasn’t like a car chase in a movie. They were quiet and seemed scared but it’s New York — it’s safe.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.