Robert Jenrick
Robert Edward Jenrick (born 9 January 1982) is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, Jenrick became the MP for Newark at a 2014 by-election and served in government as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (2018–2019), Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (2019–2021), as Minister of State for Health (September to October 2022) and as Minister of State for Immigration (2022 to 2023), when he resigned. Following Labour's return to government after the 2024 general election, Jenrick was a candidate to become Conservative leader.
Quotes
[edit]- I have been very critical of police in the past, particularly around the attitude of some police forces to the protests we saw since [the Hamas attack on Israel on] 7 October [2023].
I thought it was quite wrong that somebody could shout 'Allahu Akbar' on the streets of London and not be immediately arrested; project genocidal chants on to Big Ben and not be immediately arrested. That attitude is wrong and I'll always call out the police for it.- From an interview with Sky News, as cited by Jessica Elgot in "Robert Jenrick criticised for saying people shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ should be arrested", The Guardian (7 August 2024)
- In Arabic, the phrase "Allahu Akbar" means "God is great".
- I want this country to be the most welcoming country in the world for Israelis and for the Jewish community.
And a small thing that I fought for when I was the immigration minister was to ensure that every Israeli citizen could enter our country through the e-gate, through the easy access.
So that at every airport and point of entry to our great country there is the Star of David there as a symbol that we support Israel, we stand with Israel. We are friends and allies of Israel, and Israelis are welcome in our country.- At a Conservative Party conference Friends of Israel event (29 September 2024), as cited by Amy Gibbons in "Display the Star of David at UK border to show ‘we stand with Israel’, says Jenrick", The Telegraph (30 September 2024)
- Our special forces are killing rather than capturing terrorists because our lawyers tell us that if they are caught, the European court will set them free.
- In a campaign video posted on X (30 September 2024), as cited in "Robert Jenrick challenged to justify claim UK special forces 'kill rather than capture' terrorists due to EU law", LBC (1 October 2024)
- Rival Conservative leadership candidates James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat strongly disagreed with these comments.
