Robert Jenrick faces backlash over special forces killing claim

Tory leadership contender Robert Jenrick has stood by his claim that British special forces are “killing rather than capturing terrorists”.

The former immigration minister made the comment in a video promoting his bid to be the party’s leader.

Tory leadership rivals James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat, who have both served in the military, are among those who have criticised Jenrick’s comments during their party’s annual conference.

When asked if he backed his claim about the conduct of special forces, Jenrick told activists in Birmingham: “I do”.

Speaking on stage at a conference event, Jenrick said human rights laws would make it “difficult” for British forces to “conduct a similar operation to the one that the United States did to kill or capture Osama bin Laden”.

“That’s wrong,” Jenrick said.

“I don’t want our human rights apparatus to be standing in the way of taking the right operational decisions for our national security.”

Tugendhat said he was “angry” at Jenrick’s comments, adding that the assertion represents a “very serious accusation” and that the position shows “a fundamental lack of awareness of military operations, the command chain, and the nature of the law in the armed forces”.

He told the BBC that he spoke to a recently retired director of special forces and said: “A lot of people are extremely disappointed with the suggestions that they may be acting in ways that are not compatible with the values and standards of the British armed forces.”

Tugendhat later told BBC Newsnight Jenrick should “pull down” his video, arguing footage of special forces soldiers in operations should not be used.

He said he knew some of the soldiers seen in the video, and one of them had subsequently died in an accident.

Tugendhat said he was particularly upset because his friend was “not able to defend himself against the accusation that is effectively being levelled against him”.

Cleverly called on Jenrick to justify his claims.

“The British military always abide by international humanitarian law, the law of armed conflict,” Cleverly said.

He added: “Our military do not murder people.”

In the video in which Jenrick made the claim, he called for the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

The ECHR is a treaty which sets out the rights and freedoms people are entitled to in countries that are signed up to it.

The treaty is overseen by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.

In the video, Jenrick said: “Our special forces are killing rather than capturing terrorists because our lawyers tell us that if they’re caught, the European court will set them free.”

In an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Jenrick was asked what evidence he had to back up his claims.

He said: “The point I was making was one that our former defence secretary Ben Wallace has made, which is that our human rights apparatus including the ECHR is encroaching on the battlefield.

“And it is impacting the decisions that our generals and military decision-makers are taking as to what kind of action is required in these difficult situations.”

Pressed on whether he knew special forces were killing rather than capturing terrorists, Mr Jenrick said: “As Ben Wallace has said in that interview, decision makers are being asked to make decisions which they might not ordinarily make, for example to call in a drone strike and take lethal action in that way.”

He added: “Of course I’m not going to elaborate on particular cases because these things, these cases are not things that any minister can speak about.”

Former defence secretary Grant Shapps, who is also chair of Cleverly’s campaign, said he had seen “no evidence at all” in his time at the Ministry of Defence to back up Jenrick’s claim.

Speaking to BBC 5 Live, he added that Jenrick had been reflecting on a “broader concern” about the ECHR, but the issue was “not as black and white as he presented”.

However, former Tory MP Bob Seely, who is backing Kemi Badenoch to be party leader, defended Jenrick’s comments, saying they were “true”.

In a social media post Seely, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said the Ministry of Defence’s “fear” of human rights lawyers and the ECHR meant “it was easier to drop bombs than arrest anyone or bring them to justice”.

In an article last year, Wallace – the former defence secretary – claimed human rights laws including the ECHR had become a serious risk to national security.

He told the Telegraph: “When we have a threat to the UK, this lunacy of being unable to render people across borders or arrest people in countries whose police forces are unacceptable means that we are more often than not forced into taking lethal action than actually raiding and detaining.”

The examples Wallace gave of lethal force were drone and satellite strikes – not of special forces on the ground featured by Jenrick.

The role of the ECHR has long been a topic of intense debate within the Conservative Party.

MPs on the right of the party have increasingly blamed the convention for enabling failed asylum seekers to challenge their removal from the UK.

Jenrick and former home secretary Suella Braverman are among those who have called for the UK to withdraw from the treaty to avoid this.

But other Tories oppose this.

It has been a dividing line between the leadership candidates at the party’s conference in Birmingham.

On Monday, fellow leadership contender Badenoch warned party members that leaving the ECHR would not address “the root of the problem”, saying it could result in Brexit-style “legal wrangling”.

She did not rule out leaving the treaty, but argued deporting more failed asylum seekers should be the priority.

Jenrick and Cleverly both addressed the Tory conference on the main stage, for an extended question and answer session on Tuesday afternoon.

Cleverly used the event to defend his past record as home secretary.

Asked why he did not quit over the government’s approach to migration, like his leadership rival Jenrick, he said: “Because I want to deliver. I don’t run away from problems, I deal with problems.”

Cleverly added that he had brought in visa changes which reduced net migration by 300,000 people a year and had a plan to ensure the Rwanda scheme worked to deter small boats crossings.