Robert Jenrick is facing condemnation for claiming that UK special forces are “killing rather than capturing” terrorists because of fears that European laws would free any detained assailants.
In a campaign video launched on X, the Conservative leadership candidate made the statement while listing reasons for leaving the European convention on human rights.
His claim has drawn criticism from Labour, a former Tory attorney general and a former army officer.
In the video, after listing foreign criminals who Jenrick claims were not deported because of European human rights laws, the former immigration minister said: “Our special forces are killing rather than capturing terrorists because our lawyers tell us that if they are caught, the European court will set them free.”
A Labour source called for Jenrick to apologise. “Robert Jenrick’s ludicrous attempt to politicise our special forces shows you how far the Tories have fallen. He should apologise. Our brave service men and women deserve better than this.”
Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general, wrote on X that the claims were “one of the most astonishing videos I have ever seen posted by a Conservative MP, let alone a candidate for the leadership”.
He added: “Most of it is twaddle, a series of promises of change that leaving the ECHR will do nothing to take forward.”
A former senior army officer told the Guardian: “This is a cheap claim and comes at a time when the armed forces continue to face scrutiny over claims of killings overseas and in Northern Ireland. He needs to correct the record.”
Campaign sources say Jenrick was citing comments made by the former defence secretary, Ben Wallace, to the Telegraph a year ago. But Jenrick’s claim differs from the one made by Wallace – he says simply that if terrorists are caught by the SAS, then the “European court will set them free”.
Wallace was referring to complex hypothetical scenarios where terror suspects could not be forcibly rendered across borders by UK special forces or handed over to a country whose “police forces are unacceptable”.
Jenrick, a former ally of Rishi Sunak, is the frontrunner out of four candidates in the race to lead the Tories. With only 121 Tory MPs, the competition remains hard to predict.
All four will address the Conservative party conference in Birmingham before MPs pick the final two candidates on 10 October.
