Dave Merritt criticises PM for seeing terrorist attack as opportunity instead of tragedy

This article is more than 9 months old

This article is more than 9 months old

The father of Jack Merritt, who was murdered in the London Bridge terrorist attack last month, has directly criticised the prime minister for treating his son’s death as a political “opportunity”.

As Boris Johnson sought on Tuesday to get his general election campaign back on track, Dave Merritt accused him of seeking to capitalise on his son’s murder.

In an interview with Sky News, Merritt said: “What was required was just a dignified approach, whereby the politicians would express their regrets, express their condolences to the people affected and would then get on with campaigning in the election – it wasn’t an election issue.

“Instead of seeing a tragedy, Boris Johnson saw an opportunity, and he went on the offensive and started talking about extending the tariff for prisoners serving sentences with a maximum of 25 years.”

Play Video Father of London Bridge attack victim criticises Boris Johnson's response – video

In the immediate aftermath of the attack, in which Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, were killed, the prime minister wrote an article in the Mail on Sunday calling for changes to sentencing laws.

“Send me back to No 10 and I will end automatic early release of violent offenders and terrorists,” it was headlined.

The attack prompted a robust debate about sentencing policy, but Merritt described Johnson’s response as a “knee-jerk reaction” and “an ill-considered intervention”.

Johnson wrote in his article: “As prime minister, I will always back our security services, our police and our troops. I will give them the funding they need and I will boost their numbers. I will support them when they make difficult decisions in dangerous situations.

“I will ensure that they do not come under constant attack from the human rights lobby who would weaken our anti-terror laws. But these changes can only be achieved with a Conservative majority government.”

Dave Merritt at a vigil in Cambridge to honour his son Jack and Saskia Jones. Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA

Merritt said he had not been contacted by the prime minister or 10 Downing Street since his son’s murder. He said police officers had passed on a message that the home secretary, Priti Patel, wanted to meet to “express her condolences”, but the family declined.

Jack Merritt, a course coordinator for Learning Together, a programme run by Cambridge University’s Institute of Criminology, had been at Fishmongers’ Hall in London Bridge on 29 November when Usman Khan launched the knife attack.

Khan, who was shot dead by police, had been arrested in December 2010 and released on licence in December 2018, wearing an electronic tag.

The Conservatives were criticised on Monday after Johnson pocketed the mobile phone of an ITV reporter who was urging him to look at a photo of a four-year-old boy sleeping on a hospital floor.

Johnson’s party later had to retract claims that an aide to the health secretary, Matt Hancock, was hit when he visited the hospital.