Robert Jenrick has said that he wants authorities to ‘step up’ and ‘reassert these basic rules’ after he highlighted fare dodging at a London station. The shadow justice secretary told the BBC that he wants bodies to understand ‘that these things are not small rule breaks’, and said he was ‘unapologetic’ about sharing the clip in which he confronted people who forced their way through the ticket barriers at Stratford station in the east of the capital.
He also told the broadcaster he ‘didn’t know’ that he should have sought permission to film, but said he was ‘unapologetic’ about the clip, adding: “They should be going after people breaking the law, not the rules.” Mr Jenrick later told LBC radio that he did not want to warn Transport for London (TfL) of his plan to film the video in case it would embarrass the body.
The former Conservative leadership contender posted the video on social media on Thursday, May 29, in which he asked one person ‘do you think it’s alright not to pay’ and challenged another to ‘go back through the barrier and pay’. At the top of an escalator he said to one person ‘do you want to go back and pay like everybody else’?
Speaking to BBC Radio 5Live on Thursday, Mr Jenrick said that staff ‘weren’t doing anything’ to tackle evasion when he was at Stratford to film his video. “They weren’t either trained or didn’t have the self-confidence to take action, and I think that’s the issue sometimes,” he said.
“We need the authorities to actually understand that these things are not small rule breaks. They’re actually things that create a sense of impunity which makes everyone else feel less safe and drags the whole of society down.”
He added: “And so I want TfL in this instance, but I want the police, local councils, everybody to really step up and for us to have a conscious effort as a society to reassert these basic rules because I think that will make everyone’s lives better.”
TfL responded to the video by saying fare evasion was unacceptable and it was strengthening its capability to deter and detect fare evaders. It said this was being done by expanding its team of professional investigators to target the most prolific fare evaders across the network.
It added: “This builds on the work of our team of more than 500 uniformed officers already deployed across the network to deal with fare evasion and other anti-social behaviour, keeping staff and customers safe.”
London Underground and Overground services operate from Stratford, as well as national rail services, the Elizabeth Line and the DLR.
A union appeared to accuse Mr Jenrick of ‘trying to score points’ with the clip. The Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) said in a statement: “This incident was not only inappropriate but also potentially dangerous for passengers, staff and the individual involved.
“Fare evasion is a serious issue, but it must be tackled with professional, trained enforcement, not MPs trying to score points or social media clout on their daily commute.”
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