Robert Jenrick has declared that Sir Sadiq Khan has been "shamed into action" as he welcomed a surge in fines for fare-dodgers on Transport for London's services.
Speaking to GB News, the Shadow Justice Secretary said it was "good news" that fines spiked by almost 60 per cent following his own viral video.
Jenrick shared footage of himself confronting fare-dodgers on the London Underground, highlighting how TfL workers watch on as several commuters force their way through the barriers at stations, refusing to pay.
GB News / PA
|Robert Jenrick declared Sadiq Khan had been 'shamed into action' by his work on TfL fare dodgers
Delivering his verdict on the data on GB News, Jenrick said: "I'm very pleasantly surprised. It looks like if you actually shame the authorities into action, they can do something.
"And in this case, it looks like Sadiq Khan can actually do something if he puts his mind to it.
"So big increase in the amount of law enforcement, and I think for all of the law abiding, rule abiding, fare-paying people out there across the whole of the country, it's good news."
Urging the London Mayor to now take action on other crimes following the surge in TfL fines, Jenrick added: "It shows that with a bit of political will, you can actually get things done.
"And so if it's possible to take action against fare-dodging, why don't we take action against shoplifting or burglary or some of the violent crimes that we're seeing on our streets?
"The public just want to see the police and the authorities step up and do their jobs."
Robert Jenrick
|The Shadow Justice Secretary went viral on social media after sharing footage of him confronting TfL fare dodgers
Highlighting how Britons feel like "mugs" amid the surging level of crime in Britain, Jenrick stated: "People feel like mugs.
"They're paying their fares on the tram or the bus or the tube if they're down in London, they're playing by the rules in their daily lives.
"They're not nicking things from shops, but they see people doing these things, and there's a sense that it's happening with impunity, that they're almost being decriminalised at the moment.
"And the public realm, the parts of the world, the country that we all live in, the town square, the high streets, it feels like it's going downhill a bit, doesn't it?
"It feels like things are going to the dogs a bit in some places, and we've got to change that."
Revealing the inspiration behind his investigation, which has now been seen by more than 20 million people, Jenrick told GB News: "We had a little team outing to the football, and we were sat in the pub afterwards and we were talking about just the things that annoy us all.
GB News
|Jenrick told GB News that the streets have 'gone to the dogs'
"And a couple of people in my office said how sick they were of watching people fare-dodging, I've seen it myself. I think pretty much everyone has. And it literally took five minutes to see the first person doing it.
"We were only at Stratford station for half an hour, dozens of people were breaking the rules there. And what annoyed us most of all was that there were actually people paid to enforce the law who were stood there watching us."
Transport for London said in a statement: "We take fare evasion extremely seriously. It takes away vital revenue from us that should be invested in a safe, reliable transport network.
"We know that people who evade paying the correct fare cause the majority of abuse and are aggression experienced by our customer-facing teams.
"There is also a clear overlap between people who evade paying the correct fare and wider criminality our network.
"Our team of over 500 revenue inspectors operate across our entire transport network day and night, checking tickets, penalising fare evaders and using new technology and intelligence to identify anyone travelling without the correct ticket or payment for the journey they are making."