Theresa May has accused Jeremy Corbyn of being opposed to using “shoot to kill” to deal with terrorist incidents, repeating a controversial claim that is being spread widely on social media via a misleadingly headlined 18-month-old BBC video clip.

During a speech on Monday in Whitehall at which she was repeatedly pressed about cuts in police numbers, the prime minister said that at the forthcoming election there was “one leader who has opposed the use of shoot to kill”.

It is a line the Conservatives have repeatedly used. During the Question Time debate programme on Friday night, the party’s official Twitter account tweeted that Corbyn would not keep the country safe.

Conservatives (@Conservatives) Corbyn: ‘I’m not happy with the shoot-to-kill policy in general'. He wouldn't keep our country safe. #BBCDebate

The Conservatives are even advertising on Google against the search phrase “‘Jeremy Corbyn shoot to kill”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Google featuring Conservative ad against Jeremy Corbyn Photograph: Google

The “shoot to kill” policy has come particularly into focus because it was used to end the attack in Borough Market in London within eight minutes of the first emergency call being placed. Fifty rounds were fired by eight officers, and one member of the public was wounded in the incident.

The quote that May and the Conservatives referred to is taken from a controversial BBC interview in November 2015, three days after the Bataclan attack in Paris.



After its transmission on News at Six, the BBC Trust, the broadcaster’s former regulator, said “the report had not been duly accurate in how it framed the extract it used from Mr Corbyn’s interview” because interviewer Laura Kuenssberg had made it appear that the Labour leader was answering a different question to the one that had been asked.

The BBC website, under the headline “Jeremy Corbyn opposes ‘shoot to kill’ policy”, makes no mention that the interview was subject to an upheld complaint over accuracy. Nor does the BBC make it clear that the video dates from 2015, or is a 33-second extract taken from a longer interview. The only date credit visible on the page hosting the video is the ambiguous “16 Nov”.

Nevertheless, the film been one of the most viewed video on the BBC News website, having at times occupied the top spot in the last 24 hours, causing the headline “Jeremy Corbyn opposes ‘shoot to kill’ policy” to appear on the BBC News homepage.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The 2015 Jeremy Corbyn clip, as it appears on the BBC website. Photograph: BBC News website

During the course of the full-length interview, Kuenssberg first asks Corbyn: “If we saw the kind of horror in Paris here, if you were prime minister, would you order security services on to the street to stop people being killed?”

He replies:

Of course you’d bring people on to the streets to prevent and ensure there is safety within our society, much better that’s done by the police than security services, much better we have strong and effective community policing, neighbourhood policing and a cohesive society that brings people together, obviously that is essential and so that’s one of the messages I’ll be putting to the prime minister.

The section being shared on social media is, however, from a follow-up question. Kuenssberg says: “If you were prime minister would you be happy to order people, police or military, to shoot to kill on Britain’s streets.”

The clip then shows Corbyn as saying:



I am not happy with the shoot to kill policy in general. I think that is quite dangerous and I think it can often be counterproductive. I think you have to have security which prevents people firing off weapons where you can and there are various degrees of doing things, as we know, but the idea you end up with a war on the streets is not a good thing. Surely you have to work to try and prevent these things happening. That has got to be the priority.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The full clip of the interview shows Corbyn saying ‘of course’ he would put people on to the street.

On Sunday night, Corbyn gave a speech in which he clarified his position, stating that he approved of the police using “whatever force is necessary” to protect life, saying: