Okay, this is complete lunacy, and a testament of how much the U.K. has fallen. British Foreign Minister David Lammy may be fined after fishing with Vice President JD Vance in Britain last week. Lammy and Vance fished in the English countryside, but Lammy may now be fined after he went fishing without a license. CNN provided more details on the bizarre story: Last week, British foreign minister David Lammy went fishing with US Vice President JD Vance at his retreat in the English countryside. Now, he could be fined for doing so. Lammy on Wednesday referred himself to the UK’s environment watchdog for fishing without a rod license – an offense in Britain that could land him with a fine of £2,500 ($3,400). “The foreign secretary has written to the Environment Agency over an administrative oversight that meant the appropriate licenses had not been acquired for fishing on a private lake as part of a diplomatic engagement at Chevening House last week,” a Foreign Office spokesperson said. “As soon as the foreign secretary was made aware of the administrative error, he successfully purchased the relevant rod fishing licenses,” the spokesperson added. “He also wrote to the Environment Agency notifying them of the error, demonstrating how it would be rectified, and thanking them for their work protecting Britain’s fisheries.” Lammy recently hosted Vance at Chevening House, his grace-and-favor retreat in the southern county of Kent, known as the Garden of England. After his diplomatic engagements, the vice president has stayed in the country for a family vacation. Although Vance has been critical of the British government for what he claims is its heavy-handed approach to free speech, he and Lammy held a chummy press conference after their illegal fishing trip. Here’s a photo of the two fishing together: When photo opportunities go wrong. David Lammy fishing without a licence. Isn’t he a barrister? Doesn’t he know the law?https://t.co/l1HOrl4d3n pic.twitter.com/iva1f8BQAV — Lord Talbot (@Lord_Talbot64) August 13, 2025 BBC provided background on Vance’s friendship with Lammy: US Vice President JD Vance is taking his holiday in the UK – a trip which will include visits to the Cotswolds, Scotland and, to kick it all off, a few days staying with Foreign Secretary David Lammy at his grace-and-favour country home, Chevening House in Kent. It would seem an unlikely friendship on the face of it. One grew up in north London, the other in rust-belt Ohio. One is a left-wing advocate of multi-culturalism, the other a conservative who has, albeit jokingly, referred to the UK as “the first truly Islamist country” with a nuclear bomb. Yet, despite their differences Lammy and Vance appear to be the best of friends. As he settled in for a brief chat with the media in the drawing room at Chevening alongside the foreign secretary, Vance spoke warmly of their relationship. “I have to say that I really have become a good friend, and David has become a good friend of mine,” he said. “Our families enjoy each other’s company very much, which always helps.” Chevening is set in 3,000 acres of land, including a maze and lake, which was the first destination for the two families on Friday morning, for a spot of fishing. Vance joked this activity put “a strain on the special relationship” with his children all catching carp, while the foreign secretary came away empty-handed. Lammy didn’t seem bitter, telling the vice president he was “delighted” to welcome him and his family to 115-room Chevening, which he described as “my home”. Vance acknowledged the two men come from “different political spectrums” but said Lammy had been “kind enough to make time on a visit to [Washington] DC, we got to know each other a little bit then”. Since that first meeting, when Lammy was in opposition and Vance had just been elected to the US Senate, they have met regularly including at the new Pope’s inauguration in May. Last week, Lammy told the Guardian he, Vance and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner bonded over drinks in the Villa Taverna, the US ambassador’s residence in Rome. “I had this great sense that JD completely relates to me and he completely relates to Angela. So it was a wonderful hour and a half,” he said. “I was probably the shyest of the three.” He said that, like Vance, Rayner and himself were “not just working-class politicians, but people with dysfunctional childhoods”. Lammy’s parents split up during his teens. His father went to the US and Lammy never saw him again. Vance told the story of his own upbringing – including an absent father and a mother with a drug addiction – in his bestselling memoir Hillbilly Elegy. Despite their trickier starts in life, both ended up at prestigious US colleges. Lammy studied at Harvard, where he met and befriended Barack Obama. Vance went to Harvard’s rival Yale – “not quite as good,” Lammy joked at Chevening. The two men have also bonded over their Christian faith. Vance converted to Catholicism as an adult and attended Mass with Lammy when he visited Washington DC earlier this year.