This seemed strange.
A top British official just learned the hard way that breaking the rules can backfire — especially when America’s Vice President is in the spotlight.
U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy was officially reprimanded after hosting Vice President JD Vance on a countryside visit that ended in embarrassment. The controversy had nothing to do with policy talks — it was about fishing without a license.
The Environment Agency confirmed that Lammy received a written warning for casting his line illegally while entertaining Vance and his family south of London. In Britain, anyone over the age of 13 must have a valid freshwater fishing license. Had he been fined, Lammy could have faced a penalty of nearly $4,000.
Lammy scrambled to fix the mess, belatedly purchasing the license and reporting himself, dismissing the violation as an “administrative error.” But critics noted that this is hardly a good look for Britain’s top diplomat.
The trip was supposed to highlight the “special relationship” between the U.S. and U.K., with Vance and Lammy posing for photo ops before sitting down to discuss global issues. Instead, it turned into headlines about poor judgment.
Vance himself even joked about the fiasco, quipping that all of his children caught fish — while the foreign secretary caught nothing. “The one strain on the special relationship,” Vance said, “is that all of my kids caught fish, but the foreign secretary did not.”
Lammy admitted that Vance shared some “Kentucky-style” fishing tips, but it wasn’t enough to save him from embarrassment — or from making international news.