Party leadership contender says Robert Jenrick’s remarks show ‘fundamental misunderstanding’ of law of war
The former UK security minister Tom Tugendhat has criticised the claim by one of his Conservative leadership rivals that UK special forces are “Robert Jenrick, the former immigration minister, defended his claim on Tuesday, and said it echoed comments by the former defence secretary Ben Wallace expressing fears that European laws would free any detained assailants.
Jenrick told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that he stood by the comments. “The point that Ben Wallace was making was that there are instances where the is forcing or leading the decision makers … to take lethal action. Jenrick was also criticised by another Tory leadership rival, the shadow home secretary, James Cleverly, who told Sky News: “The British military always abide by international humanitarian law – the law of armed conflict. We have … the most professional military in the world. Our military do not murder people.”
Jenrick has been criticised by a number of legal and military experts, as well as Labour sources. Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general for England and Wales, 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”.
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