More believable than Keir Starmer, perhaps
Dutch traffic police in the city of Groningen have posted a picture on Instagram showing a confiscated driving licence that appeared to belong to the former Prime Minister of the UK, Boris Johnson. The licence was submitted to the police by a driver in the Netherlands suspected of drink-driving, but unsurprisingly the police were not fooled.
While Johnson’s perhaps no stranger to illicit drinking sessions, the date of birth on the licence is actually correct.
However, alarm bells rang due to the use of the Ukrainian flag on the licence, while its expiry date is December 12 … in the year 3000.
A less obvious clue to its dubiousness is the date of issue: July 24, 2019, the day Johnson became Prime Minister of the UK.
When stopped by the Dutch police for a routine traffic check, the driver in question was suspected to be under the influence of alcohol. The licence was taken away and the driver has been fined.
“Unfortunately for this person, we did not fall for this counterfeit,” the police in the city of Groningen said.
It was not communicated by the Dutch authorities if the driver was Ukrainian, as depicted in the fake driving licence, but it is as likely not to be the case. Johnson was closely linked with Ukrain after his swift and wholehearted support for the country following its invasion by Russia in February 2022.
Kysia Hekster, a journalist working for NOS (Nederlandse Omroep Stichting — the Dutch Broadcasting Foundation, effectively the Dutch equivalent to the BBC) posted a tweet in Dutch that translates into English as: “You can buy these driving licences in tourist shops in Ukraine. I have them from Merkel and Zelensky, among others.”
Deze rijbewijzen kan je kopen in toeristenwinkeltjes Oekraïne. Ik heb ze van oa Merkel en Zelensky https://t.co/wH9VAfb74m
— Kysia Hekster (@Kysia) April 30, 2023
Last year, the EU introduced temporary measures to allow those fleeing the invasion of Ukraine to continue to use their Ukrainian driving licences. This extends to qualified drivers of heavy good vehicles as well as to car drivers.
In the UK, Ukrainian drivers can use their own driving licence for twelve months before they must exchange it for a British driving licence.
These measures have created a new market for licence forgeries and websites that offer real looking Ukrainian driving licences, custom-made, for €159. There’s nothing stopping someone from uploading an image of Boris Johnson and his details when ordering such a thing.
- After reading about the forged driving licence bearing Boris Johnson’s details, you may want to read about changing your name on your driving licence after getting married
- If you’re confused about the rules about driving in Europe, you can read our guide to driving in the EU after Brexit
- Are old-style paper driving licences still valid?
Keyword: Brazen drink-driver shows Dutch police 'Boris Johnson' driving licence