‘Lawbreaking is “out of control”, says well-known respecter of laws and rules, Robert Jenrick’
Robert Jenrick has been ridiculed after posting a video of himself confronting fare dodgers at Stratford station.
On social media, people were quick to point out the Tory MP’s hypocrisy given his own poor track record when it comes to following the rules.
Yesterday, the shadow justice secretary posted the video with the caption: “Sadiq Khan is driving a proud city into the ground. Lawbreaking is out of control. He’s not acting. So, I did.”
In the video, Jenrick stands by the ticket barriers watching for fare dodgers. He then chases after those who skip payment, telling them to go back and tap in.
At the end of the video, Jenrick makes a dogwhistle comment stating that along with bike and phone thefts, “weird Turkish barber shops” are “chipping away at society”.
In response, Editor at the Byline Times, Adam Bienkov, posted on X: “Lawbreaking is “out of control”, says well-known respecter of laws and rules, Robert Jenrick.”
Bienkov points to several examples of Jenrick breaking the rules, including rushing through approval of a £1 billion London housing development when he was housing secretary, which helped a Tory donor avoid paying £45 million in taxes.
Jenrick also broke lockdown rules, travelling to visit his parents when the country was in lockdown and people were required to stay at home except for essential journeys.
In 2020, the Sunday Times reported that Jenrick claimed £100,000 in expenses to rent a third home in his Newark constituency.
He broke another rule by filming the video stunt in the station without permission from TfL.
X account The Secret Barrister summed it up: “This is the most spectacularly Alan Partridge thing that has ever happened, and I include Alan Partridge.”
Broadcaster Narinder Kaur posted a video mocking Jenrick, stating: “In your next video, can you go after maybe the billions wasted on PPE fraud, the millions of taxpayer money wasted on the Rwanda scheme, maybe the lockdown parties? Can you do a crime busting video about that? We’d really appreciate that.”
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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