Angela Rayner has been accused of supporting “mandatory death sentences” by Diane Abbott after she said police should shoot terrorists first and “ask questions second”.
The Labour deputy leader said she was “hardline” on law and order and appeared to endorse the killing of terrorists in place of capture and trial.
She also said police should “beat down the door of the criminals and sort them out”.
Labour has sought to pivot to a tough stance on crime in the last 12 months, with party bosses fearing that voters think it is soft on justice issues after Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.
Sir Keir Starmer, a former director of public prosecutions, has repeatedly emphasised his credentials as a barrister in arguing for tougher sentences for violent criminals.
But speaking on the Political Party podcast, Ms Rayner appeared to go beyond Labour’s policy.
“On things like law and order, I am quite hardline,” she said.
“I am like – shoot your terrorists and ask questions second. Sorry – is that the most controversial thing I’ve ever said?
“On law and order, I think if you are being terrorised by the local thug, I want a copper to come and sort them out.
“I want you to beat down the door of the criminals and sort them out and antagonise them. That’s what I say to my local police – 3am and antagonise them.”
Criticism across the political divide
MPs from all three major parties have criticised her remarks, with one declaring that the statement made Labour’s position on crime “totally and utterly uncredible”.
Diane Abbott, the former shadow home secretary, said Ms Rayner appeared to be supporting the killing of all terrorists.
“Is Angela suggesting a mandatory death sentence for suspected (but not convicted) ‘terrorists’?” she said.
Robert Buckland, the former justice secretary, told The Telegraph: “If Angela Rayner thinks that a throwaway comment like this makes up for her loyalty to a leader who took the side of the Russians after the Salisbury poisoning outrage, then she is sorely mistaken.”
The remarks were also criticised by a spokesman for the hard-Left campaign group Momentum, who compared them to the Metropolitan Police shoot-to-kill policy that resulted in the death of an innocent terror suspect in 2005.
Sonali Bhattacharyya said: “These remarks are deeply concerning. It was this approach that led to the assassination of Jean Charles de Menezes.
“You can’t kneel for racial justice one day, then praise shoot-to-kill powers for the police the next.”
Tim Loughton, a senior Conservative MP on the Home Affairs Committee, told The Telegraph: “Labour are so desperate to appear to be all things to all men and women that they come up with ill-thought comments like this.
“Angela Rayner is well-known for shooting first and asking questions later when it comes to some of the ridiculous things she says.
“I hope this doesn’t apply to Labour’s sense of justice, or lack of it, when it comes to dealing with criminals.
“They’re so desperate to appear to be tough on crime that they’ve gone completely the other way, which just makes their whole policy totally and utterly uncredible.”
Labour denies formal pact with Liberal Democrats
The row came as Labour suggested it would scale back its campaigning in the Liberal Democrats’ priority seats at the next election, in a seemingly informal pact.
Denying any formal agreement between the two parties, a Labour source said: “We’re going to behave differently and campaign differently in the seats that were on our target list than the ones we’ve got sort of no chance of winning, historically.”
