Robert Jenrick has admitted that previous Tory governments “should have done more” to support the armed forces, increase police numbers, and reduce prison overcrowding.
The shadow justice secretary was confronted about his record in government in a “painful” LBC interview after he released a viral video confronting fare dodgers on the London Underground.
When asked about the “poor state” armed forces were left in under the previous Conservative administrations, Robert Jenrick said: “I’m the first to acknowledge the mistakes of the last Tory government. I ended up resigning from the cabinet because I didn’t feel like we were going far enough on immigration.
“Yes, we should have done more on our armed forces but we are here now in the present.
“I’m focused on what we can do now, and we must hold this government to account. We need to be spending this money [3 per cent of GDP on defence] and we need to ensure these policies are delivered upon.”
He also admitted that his party “could have done more” when asked about police numbers and prison overcrowding.
“Could we have done more? Yes, of course we could have done,” he said. “What we need to focus on now is what this government is doing and to make constructive suggestions as to how they can get things into a better place.
“That is why I have done this video [catching fare dodgers on the London Underground] and others because sometimes you have to get stuck in [while] in opposition, shame the authorities into doing more, and raise the concerns of working people.
“It is quite clear that people like me felt fed up, quite frankly, that people are paying for their fare on the way to work, to college, or out shopping and other people were breaking rules.”
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