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LABOUR deputy leader Angela Rayner has faced a barrage of criticism for saying that police should “shoot terrorists and ask questions second.”
Ms Rayner made the comments in an interview three weeks ago with comedian Matt Forde on his podcast The Political Party.
They resurfaced yesterday when Labour MP Diane Abbott tweeted: “Is Angela suggesting a mandatory death sentence for suspected (but not convicted) terrorists?”
Mr Forde had asked Ms Rayner whether she considered herself a “hard left or soft left” politician.
She replied: “On things like law and order, I’m like, quite hard line. I’m like, you know, shoot terrorists and ask questions second.”
Some of Ms Rayner’s critics recalled the shooting of Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes by Metropolitan Police officers on July 22 2005 after he had been wrongly identified as a terrorist.
Writer Gary Younge tweeted that if Mr de Menezes were alive, “he’d tell you why that’s a bad idea.”
Martha Spurrier, director of civil rights campaign group Liberty, also condemned Ms Rayner’s “shocking” comments.
And Tory MP David Davis tweeted: “We need our security services to make the right decision, not a ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ decision.”
Allies of Ms Rayner claimed that her comments had been taken out of context.