Jeremy Corbyn’s commitment to protecting the British public came under attack last night after he repeatedly refused to say whether he would launch a drone strike on terrorists plotting to bomb the UK.

Exactly a week after the Manchester suicide bombing, the Labour leader faced a hostile grilling on live television from voters who demanded to know why he should be “trusted” to tackle terrorism and whether he would “look the other way” rather than agree to military intervention in Syria.

Mr Corbyn would not say whether he would ever authorise a drone strike to kill a terrorist leader, claiming he could not answer “hypothetical” questions.