Robert Jenrick tweeted a 60 second video this morning, showing him confronting suspected fare dodgers at Stratford London Underground station. He watches people reportedly forcing their way through the barriers while TfL staff seemingly do nothing to stop them. Jenrick then follows the suspected freeloaders down escalators, challenging them on why they haven’t paid. They’re not apologetic of course and none seem to show the slightest shame. One seems to threaten the shadow justice secretary, with Jenrick responding ‘you’re carrying a knife, did you say?’.
In his narration, Jenrick says 4 per cent of travellers on the London Underground haven’t paid for their fare – I checked with TfL and the number they quote is 3.5 per cent across the whole TfL network.
Sadiq Khan is driving a proud city into the ground.
— Robert Jenrick (@RobertJenrick) May 29, 2025
Lawbreaking is out of control.
He's not acting. So, I did.👇 pic.twitter.com/MZSVQ3Sdak
As a piece of political media, it’s great. Jenrick seems to straddle the gulf between politician and insurgent journalist, pursuing alleged wrongdoers and confronting them. In a country where politicians mouth platitudes while the nation crumbles, the video is refreshing. It’s great to see someone doing something, challenging the rule-breaking and antisocial behaviour we see all around us. I think that’s why this video has pleased so many people. Those who follow the rules, do everything they’re supposed to, and watch people unashamedly breaking the law without consequences are rightly angry. They want these abuses of our decency and trust to be brought to an end. Jenrick, in actually confronting fare dodgers, not just talking about it, shows that action is easier than we have been told.
Jenrick correctly links fare-dodging to a wider collapse in social trust and the rule of law
The shadow justice secretary also correctly links fare-dodging to a wider collapse in social trust and the rule of law. As he says, ‘it’s the same with bike theft, phone theft, tool theft, shoplifting, drugs in town centres, weird Turkish barber shops’. He’s right. As the state has withdrawn, criminality has filled the gap.
LBC’s Henry Riley has reported that Jenrick broke TfL’s rules, in filming without permission. I’m not sure if this is true – the published guidelines suggest that only those filming ‘commercial content’ must apply for a permit, and TfL didn’t respond to my request for comment in time for this piece. But it would be entirely fitting with the anarcho-tyranny Britain has become, that the system would pursue the man revealing rulebreaking rather than the rulebreakers themselves.
Of course, much of the state of Britain is the fault of the Tories, who in their 14 years oversaw a collapse in law-and-order, and the gutting of police, probation and the prison service. But Jenrick should still be applauded for what he is doing now.
His video has generated a great deal of discussion on social media, and it has also revealed the new divide in British politics between those ‘noticers’ who recognise the signs of failure and decline all around us, and those who think it’s low-status, or cringe to notice. The standard bearer of that second group is the Secret Barrister, an anonymous Twitter account operated by a working barrister who has written popular books about the destruction of our justice system over the past 15 years. They labelled Jenrick’s video as ‘the most spectacularly Alan Partridge thing that has ever happened’.
I have nothing but disdain for this attitude. On almost every measure our society is failing. Rampant criminality is allowed because the state lacks the will and capacity to act. And instead of engaging with the oncoming disaster, some people choose to sneer in decadent detachment. What’s interesting though, is how much of a minority they are. Most people have noticed the disorder all around and want something done about it.
People across the political spectrum, from Lord Frost to Aaron Bastani, have talked about the signs of societal decay, often rightly linking them to the destructive underfunding under the Tories. As Bastani wrote, ‘you can’t defund the state, in particular its enforcement agencies, and then ask why…the law isn’t enforced’. He’s right.
We need the will to restore order, law and safety across our country, but we also need the funding. We’re all noticers now. Our politicians need to start acting.
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