Tory frontbencher defends social media video chasing fare-dodgers during BBC interview.
Robert Jenrick hit back at the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg over his fare-dodgers video. The shadow justice secretary made the headlines earlier this week when he shared a clip of himself confronting people for not paying at a London Underground station.
Speaking on her Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, the presenter pressed the former Tory leadership candidate on whether he was “encouraging people to be vigilantes”. She asked: “You were posting a video of yourself chasing down fare-dodgers in London. You obviously created a lot of the headlines that I suspect you rather desired. Are you encouraging people to be vigilantes, to take the law into their own hands?”
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick and BBC presenter Laura Kuenssberg (Image: BBC)
Mr Jenrick replied: “No. My job as shadow justice secretary is to raise issues and you can do that in Parliament, I do, I forced Labour to bring in emergency legislation to stop two-tier sentencing guidelines coming in the other day.
“But sometimes you actually have to get out there and get stuck in, shame the authorities into taking action. And I was fed up, like clearly many other people were by the reaction to the video, of the fact people were fare-dodging.
“Ordinary people who are law-abiding feel like fools, they feel like mugs that they’re paying on public transport and other people are not.
“And it’s bigger than just public transport, you’re talking about graffiti, people playing obnoxious music on buses, shoplifting, mobile phone theft.
“There’s a genuine sense in the country that the public realm is deteriorating.”
Ms Kuenssberg then asked if he would do it again if there was not a camera around to record him.
The Tory frontbencher said: “I think it’s something we should do. I’m not asking other people to do that, you’ve obviously got to look after yourself.
“But it’s right that politicians raise these issues on behalf of the public, that is my job, that’s what I’m always going to do.”
Mr Jenrick posted the video on social media on Thursday in which he called out people who forced their way through the ticket barriers at Stratford station in the east of the capital.