A former Conservative election candidate has been suspended from the party after he was seemingly filmed discussing the cost of hiring contract killers and offering to “broker” the services of a far-right activist with alleged paramilitary links.
Jack Ross was filmed apparently asking an undercover reporter “What do you want done?” before listing the type of violent options that could be bought.
Ross appeared to tell the Al Jazeera journalist: “They can just kick the fuck out of someone. That’s a certain amount. They can start cutting people’s faces up, that’s another amount. And they can stab someone. They can shoot someone. They can kill someone.”
Police in Scotland say they will be reviewing and assessing the Al Jazeera documentary – Contract Killers and the Far Right – for any criminality.
Ross is the chief executive of Turning Point UK, a spin-off from the campaign group founded by the murdered US Republican commentator Charlie Kirk.
Footage released by TPUK last year showed Ross and others from the group meeting Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, after Kirk’s death.
A profile page for Ross on the website of the Bow Group, a Conservative thinktank that lists him as a research fellow, states he has advised MPs and candidates on political and digital strategy. He has been pictured alongside Boris Johnson and other high-profile figures including James Cleverly, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Liam Fox.
Ross was reported by Al Jazeera to have introduced an undercover reporter to a violent criminal from Glasgow with links to the paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force, who offers to have people killed for money.
Al Jazeera approached Ross with a fictitious family problem where a deceased uncle’s business was at risk of being taken over by a gang, whose members were supposedly warned they would “get fucked” if anything happened.
Ross replied to this: “Yeah, you have to deliver on that as well. You’ve got to explain to me what’s needed … I can then go and broker from there. But I’ve got to say, even to myself … if there’s lashback I’ve got to keep my name out of it.”
The Scottish paramilitary contact was then filmed at a London hotel offering to arrange different types of killings, ranging from a hit-and-run that could be made to look like drink-driving to a stabbing.
The meeting took place after Ross, apparently acting on behalf of the Zimbabwean government, had reportedly paid thousands of pounds to the Glasgow activist to organise a fake political rally in support of lifting UK sanctions imposed on the African country.
Ross said: “I have had a few things and some of the Zims [Zimbabweans] have said to me they want stuff done. They wanted a fucking shooter.”
He said he had asked them to talk to the paramilitary, adding: “I said I was not putting fucking prints on anything.”
While TPUK was launched as a student movement, it has become increasingly involved in anti-migrant street protests. Its chief operating officer is Nick Tenconi, the leader of the far-right UK Independence party, who visited the Conservative conference in ۲۰۲۲ with Ross.
Ross was filmed in ۲۰۲۲ telling an undercover reporter they should chat to him about what they wanted, adding “keep it simple” and then listing the various violent options that could be bought for cash, including murder.
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A Conservative party spokesperson said: “Mr Ross’s membership of the Conservative party has been suspended with immediate effect pending an investigation. We cannot comment further while the investigation is ongoing.”
At another point, Ross expressed concerns that journalists could be recording the sort of things he was saying and could pass them to police.
“The journalist will put it out there and then the police will pick it up and fuck you,” he said. “You’ve got to think that what we were talking about and had someone film it we’d be fucking done for conspiracy.”
Tenconi was filmed alongside Ross as they outlined a plan to use football hooligans to stir up trouble.
Tenconi said: “So let Labour get in. So we build the new right and we have these armies … so, three-pronged. We keep winning MPs over. Then we build the second prong, we build an army, and that’s street demos, protest, just fuck things up, basically.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We’re aware of the documentary. It will be reviewed and assessed for any criminality.”
Al Jazeera reported that Ross had “completely” denied its investigation’s findings, claiming that everything he said to the undercover reporter was not meant seriously.
Ross, who was a local elections candidate for the Conservatives, was approached by the Guardian for comment through TPUK. Tenconi was also approached for comment via his party.
