Tugendhat suggests Jenrick knows ‘nothing about’ sensitive military matters

Tory leadership candidate Tom Tugendhat has suggested rival Robert Jenrick knows “nothing about” sensitive military matters, as Mr Jenrick continues to face backlash for claiming that UK special forces are “killing rather than capturing” terrorists.

The Newark MP and frontrunner in the race to succeed Rishi Sunak suggested in a campaign video the British military is taking lethal action because of fears that European human rights laws would free any detained assailants.

Mr Tugendhat called the claims an “extremely serious allegation” and suggested people should not “comment on military matters you know nothing about.”

He added: “If you present a legitimate military threat to the United Kingdom, then we have under the laws of armed conflict today a legal ability and in fact a military capability to conduct operations to keep the British people safe.

“I am afraid that is simply a fact, and if you don’t know it please don’t comment on military matters you know nothing about.”

Mr Jenrick reiterated his belief in his claims when he addressed the Conservative membership in a Q&A session on Tuesday afternoon.

He told delegates in Birmingham that former defence secretary Ben Wallace “used his first intervention after leaving office to make almost this very point”.

“I don’t want our human rights apparatus to be standing in the way of taking the right operational decisions for our national security and for protecting the lives of the brave men and women who serve in our special forces,” Mr Jenrick said.

He was speaking before James Cleverly, who suggested that his rival must “justify” the claims that he had made.

Mr Cleverly told delegates: “Well look, whoever said that needs to justify their words.

In the same session, Mr Cleverly admitted that he “messed up” when he joked about spiking his wife’s drink with a date rape drug.

In December 2023, the Sunday Mirror reported that Mr Cleverly told female guests at a Number 10 event that “a little bit of Rohypnol in her drink every night” was “not really illegal if it’s only a little bit”.

He told the session: “Look, I messed up. I messed up. I was trying to make a point that I was the home secretary who was updating the law to make spiking illegal, to protect women. I was trying to make that point in front of a number of journalists.”

Elsewhere, at a fringe event hosted by The Spectator magazine, Kemi Badenoch claimed that 5% to 10% of civil servants should be sent to prison because of how bad they are at their jobs.

While she said 10% of the civil service was “absolutely magnificent”, Ms Badenoch added: “There is about 5% to 10% of them who are very, very bad. You know, ‘should be in prison’ bad.

“Leaking official secrets, undermining their ministers, telling, agitating. I had some of it in my department, usually union-led.

“But most of them actually want to do a good job and the good ones are very frustrated by the bad ones.”

The leadership candidate, who has faced criticism for outspoken opinions on maternity leave pay during the conference, also claimed that HR departments are “running the economy right now”, in a jibe at cautious workplace culture in the UK.

The leadership contest between Mr Jenrick, Mr Tugendhat, Mr Cleverly and Ms Badenoch has been at the forefront of the party gathering.

While winning back voters from Reform UK has pre-occupied the attention of many in the Conservative Party, members were warned Green candidates could thwart them in council elections next year.

Senior Tory councillor Phil Broadhead told activists that voters had “got a lot of their anger out of their system” at July’s general election.

The Conservative Councillors’ Association chairman described Nigel Farage’s Reform UK as a potential threat to his party’s electoral success in May 2025, but added that Green Party candidates have won victories in “posh Tory areas” where people “care about these particularly environmental protection issues”.

“So, I think we need to occupy that space and regain it,” he added.