Robert Jenrick has been accused of “playing hero” after he posted a video of himself tackling fare-dodgers on the Tube.

The shadow justice secretary is seen at one point being confronted by a man who claimed to be carrying a knife.

Jenrick said lawbreaking was now “out of control” in the capital, and accused London mayor Sadiq Khan of “driving a proud city into the ground”.

His minute-long video, posted on X, shows him following several Underground-users who had forced their way through the ticket barriers.

Jenrick is told to “fuck off” by one man after he tells him to go back and pay for his journey. The man then warns him that he has a knife.

The MP, who lost out to Kemi Badenoch in the race to be Tory leader last year, says one in 25 Tube-users do not pay for their journeys.

“It’s also just annoying watching so many people break the law and get away with it – at least most of the time,” Jenrick says.

He is then shown handing one of the alleged fare-dodgers over to security staff.

The Tory frontbencher says: “It’s the same with bike theft, phone theft, tool theft, shoplifting, drugs in town centres, weird Turkish barber shops. It’s all chipping away at society.

“The state needs to reassert itself and go after lawbreakers.”

But he was criticised by Maryam Eslamdoust, general secretary of the TSSA union, which represents Tube staff.

She said: “We’ve long said that fare evasion should be tackled through proper investment in staffing and enforcement and not by MPs playing hero on the commute.

“What we need is a fully funded British Transport Police, more London Underground revenue control teams, and a serious plan to tackle the causes of fare evasion.

“What we don’t need are performative interventions laced with bizarre and offensive commentary.”

Siwan Hayward, Transport for London’s (TfL) director of security, policing and enforcement, said: “The overwhelming majority of our customers pay the correct fare, however there is a minority who do attempt to travel without a valid ticket which is a criminal offence.

“Fare evasion is unacceptable. That is why we are strengthening our capability to deter and detect fare evaders, including expanding our team of professional investigators to target the most prolific fare evaders across the network.”

It also emerged that Jenrick had broken TfL rules by failing to get permission for filming on the Underground.

He said: “I’ll await my summons from TfL … unlike the fare dodgers.”