Tory leadership frontrunner Robert Jenrick was mauled on Tuesday by rival candidates after claiming that UK special forces are killing rather than capturing suspects to avoid scrutiny under European rights law.
Mr Jenrick has made quitting the European Convention on Human Rights and its associated court the centrepiece of his campaign to succeed Rishi Sunak.
In a campaign video launched at the Conservative conference in Birmingham, the former Home Office minister said the ECHR was allowing illegal immigrant killers and “terrorists” to stay in Britain.
“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,” he adds.
In a combative interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr Jenrick insisted that he was quoting from an interview given a year ago by former defence secretary Ben Wallace to the Daily Telegraph.
But he was unable to give any specific examples, and rival James Cleverly bluntly said that the UK military does not “murder people”.
The shadow home secretary told Sky News: “You’re going to have to ask Robert to justify that statement. That’s not something which I have heard.
“That’s not something which I’m comfortable kind of repeating.
“The British military always abide by international humanitarian law, the law of armed conflict.
“We have, I was about to say some of the most, no, we have the most professional military in the world. Our military do not murder people.”
Tom Tugendhat, another leadership contender who like Mr Cleverly served in the armed forces, said he was “extremely concerned” by Mr Jenrick’s claim.
Asked whether he agreed with the remarks, the shadow security minister said on Sky News: “No, I don’t. I think what he said is wrong and I’m afraid demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of military operations and the law of armed conflict.
“I’m extremely concerned that such words should not be seen in any way to encourage people to take any action other than surrender to British forces when asked to do so.”
In his interview on Today, Mr Jenrick said: “I'm not going to elaborate on particular cases, because these things, because these cases, are not things that any minister or former minister can speak about.
“But as Ben Wallace said in the article you're quoting from, he doubts that British forces would have been able to do what the United States was able to do in taking out Osama bin Laden.”
