Robert Jenrick has swatted away any suggestion that he is either “racist” or an “extremist” after defending his stance on pro-Palestine protests and “sectarian gangs”.
The ex-Immigration Minister, who is facing-off against ex-Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch to become next Tory leader, took a firm position on protests related to Israel’s war with Hamas.
In the height of unrelated summer riots, Jenrick also argued that demonstrators chanting “Allahu Akbar” should be arrested.
Speaking to Conservative members at a local association meeting over the weekend, Jenrick doubled-down on his position and reiterated that those refusing to believe in British values should not be in the UK.
In a recording shared with GB News, Jenrick said: “I want to see the police going back to what we would call more common-sense policing.
“Not being worried about taking the knee, not being worried about community relations like you see with the Met in particular, but enforcing the law without fear or favour.
“And I’ve not been in charge of the police but in the different jobs I’ve done in the Home Office that’s always been the position I’ve taken.
“Pushing the police, for example, on the protests that we saw in London. I was highly critical of the police because people can get away with shouting ‘Jihad’ on Oxford Street and no one gets arrested or you put a genocidal chant on the side of Big Ben.
“Sometimes I get criticised for saying this. People have even accused me of being racist or extremist.
“But I think we have a job to stand up for the silent majority in this country who believe that British values, basic standards, have to be met. And if you’re not willing to do that, you shouldn’t be in our country, quite frankly. It’s the British police’s job to enforce that.”
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Jenrick has made a number of comments about pro-Palestine protests in the past year and even wore an anti-Hamas hoodie while jogging in London.
In an article to mark the anniversary of Hamas’ shocking October 7 attack, Jenrick wrote: “We urgently need to amend our laws to combat the scale of extremism on our streets.
“We can no longer wait to proscribe the IRGC. So we must capture the extremist groups, not involved in terrorism – like Friends of Al Aqsa or the Palestinian Forum in Britain – but that harm our communities and public order, by creating a new category for banning organisations.”
Friends of Al Aqsa’s chairman Ismail Patel claimed Jenrick’s comments indicated a “xenophobic portrayal of FOA” and labelled the leadership hopeful’s pledge an example of “dog whistle politics”.
Stand Up To Racism have also accused Jenrick of running a “racist campaign” after citing his support for leaving the ECHR to “deport foreign criminals”, “get terrorists off our streets” and “end illegal migration”.
The Newark MP, who is also taking hardline stances on the European Convention of Human Rights and immigration, also pledged to use law and order as a key dividing line with Sir Keir Starmer.
He told Tory members: “I want one of our principal lines of attack to be law and order. I’ve already spoken about five things, one of them is being tough on crime.
“That is something that unites everyone in our country. We’ve got to be very, very strong on this issue. That means supporting more neighbourhood policing, it means enforcing our laws as strongly as possible, being intolerant of what the police would often consider to be minor crimes – drug dealing, thefts, burglaries, shoplifting on our high streets.”
Jenrick suggested ensuring “hyper-prolific offenders” remain behind bars and introducing a prison building programme could help tackle rising crime rates across the country.
The ex-Immigration Minister will have his next opportunity to set out his stall to members on October 17 in a two-hour special programme against Badenoch.
Both candidates will face scrutiny for 40 minutes after making an initial five minute pitch in front of a live audience of Tory Party members.
Decision Time: The Race to Lead will air on The People’s Channel from 7pm on Thursday.
