Jenrick urges Conservatives to ‘take our country back’

Robert Jenrick urged the Conservatives to “take our country back” as he told the party conference Britain was “too precious to lose”.

The shadow justice secretary ended his speech to the Conservative conference in Manchester with heavy praise for Britain, saying: “We may be a little bit down, but our country is not out.”

Moving away from his justice brief, he said there was “much to cherish about who we are”, including British food and drink, a “love of pubs”, “love of animals”, sporting heroes such as the Red Roses and Chris Woakes, a royal family “so admired they make the most powerful man in the world go weak at the knees” and “a military that has defeated every force on the planet”.

He said: “Every tide turns. I can feel Britain’s fortunes turning.

“So let’s pick ourselves up. Let’s dust ourselves down. Let’s draw on Britain’s greatness to make it greater still, let’s fight for a better future. Let’s build this new order. Let’s take our country back.”

Earlier in his speech, he had attacked Sir Keir Starmer, describing him as combining “the management style of David Brent with the administrative grip of Blackadder’s Baldrick”.

He also criticised the Attorney General, Lord Richard Hermer, for his work representing defendants in terror cases, comparing him to “one of those infamous mafia lawyers of yesteryear” who “always chose a particular type of client”.

And, brandishing a judge’s wig, he pledged to put ministers back in charge of judicial appointments, claiming the current system had allowed “political activists” onto the bench.

He claimed to have “uncovered dozens of judges with links to open borders charities, who take to social media to broadcast their open borders views, who spent their whole careers fighting to keep illegal migrants in this country”.

He added: “They dishonour generations of independent jurists who came before them, and they undermine people’s trust in the law itself. Judges who blur the line between adjudication and activism can have no place in our justice system.”

Responding to the speech, Justice Secretary David Lammy accused Mr Jenrick of attacking “British values” by threatening to “trash the institutions and traditions that hold our country together”.

Mr Lammy added: “The independence of judges from politicians is not optional. It is the cornerstone of British democracy.

“When politicians start deciding which judges can stay or go, that is democratic backsliding and Robert Jenrick knows it.”

A Labour source said Mr Jenrick “thinks personal attacks are a good replacement for a basic understanding of the law”.

Sources also pointed to Lord Hermer’s work on behalf of the Grenfell families and on a task force charged with ensuring accountability for Russian crimes in Ukraine.

Former Supreme Court judge Lord Sumption warned Mr Jenrick’s proposals risked the US-style politicisation of the judiciary.

“The only possible reason for going back to the old system would be to appoint judges who were less independent or more political than the ones appointed by the Judicial Appointments Commission,” he told the BBC.

Mr Jenrick’s speech was billed as the main event on the third day of the conference, ahead of leader Kemi Badenoch’s closing address on Wednesday.

In a conference overshadowed by questions about the Tory leadership, Mr Jenrick has avoided making disloyal comments about Mrs Badenoch.

He urged the Conservative Party “survivors” of the 2024 election to “get behind Kemi” during a fringe event with the Telegraph’s Daily T podcast.

“Give her the support that she deserves so that she can do the difficult job of rebuilding this party,” he said.

But a YouGov poll published on Monday suggested half of Conservative members did not want Mrs Badenoch to lead the party into the next election, while Mr Jenrick was their top pick to replace her.

Despite this, Mrs Badenoch earlier insisted her party was having “a very good conference”, saying members had been “thrilled” with the policies put forward by the shadow cabinet.

And she denied claims that the conference lacked the energy and attendance figures of previous years, saying she had been singing Sweet Caroline with “really excited” young Conservatives late on Monday.

She also brushed off the threat from Reform UK, which announced the defections of 20 Conservative councillors on Tuesday morning as Mrs Badenoch began a round of media interviews.

Arguing the party was “shedding a lot of baggage”, she said: “It’s going to be a long journey back from a historic defeat and on very long, difficult journeys you will lose some people on the way.”

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp also dismissed the defections, telling the PA news agency: “Nigel Farage was boasting about MP defections during our conference, which has not happened.

“So I don’t think we can worry too much about what Reform may be saying.”

Meanwhile, Mr Philp told the conference the Conservatives would hire 10,000 additional police officers at a cost of £800 million, if they won the next election.

Shadow education secretary Laura Trott said a future Conservative government would require children to be expelled if they brought a knife to school, assaulted a teacher or sexually assaulted someone.