Jacob rees mogg

Theresa May advised the EU’s leaders to ignore the threats of Conservative MPs such as Jacob Rees-Mogg during her appeal for a further Brexit delay at the Brussels summit, senior EU officials have revealed. The prime minister reassured the EU27 that Britain could be relied upon as a member state and turned fire on her backbenchers, referring to a tweet from Rees-Mogg in which he said the UK should be as “difficult as possible” from inside. “She made the point that the UK was a serious country and we should not get distracted by some non-members of the government that seemed to be trying to create the opposite impression,” a senior official said. During an hour-long address, May also indicated she was open to a long extension, warning leaders that some Conservative MPs would see a looming cliff-edge as an opportunity to crash Britain out of the EU. In comments that highlighted how far the prime minister has travelled from her position that a “no deal … [Read more...] about Ignore firebrand backbenchers such as Jacob Rees-Mogg, May tells EU

Jacob Rees-Mogg and his band of Brexiters were stalking the corridors of Westminster on Wednesday battling to keep control of their bid to persuade Theresa May to ditch her Chequers plans. What they had hoped would be a defining moment of their campaign – finally settling on what they claimed was a solution for the Northern Ireland border – was overshadowed by an internal disagreement over whether dumping Chequers also meant getting rid of the prime minister. Rumours were swirling of a febrile meeting of the pro-Brexit European Research Group (ERG) the night before, with reports suggesting dozens of angry MPs had called for May to be ousted. The number, it later transpired, was just a handful of the usual suspects. Rees-Mogg and some of his more senior Brexiter colleagues had not been not present. Some of them later dismissed the MPs as “overexcited”, “not serious” and, in one case, “well oiled”. They insisted they had no plans for May to … [Read more...] about Jacob Rees-Mogg and his Brexiters increasingly look like a busted flush

The absence of Jacob Rees-Mogg at the Conservatives’ manifesto launch has fuelled speculation that he is under orders from Number 10 to keep a low profile following a series of damaging comments. The leader of the House was missing on the front row of the Telford International Centre where ministers stood together to applaud the words of Boris Johnson. Michael Gove was in London after attending a series of interviews. But where, journalists asked, was the former high-profile head of the European Research Group whose anachronistic manner has earned him the nickname “the honourable member for the 18th century”? One recently departed party official said it was likely Rees-Mogg was being kept away from the media after his comments that it would have been “common sense” to ignore fire brigade advice and flee the Grenfell tower block fire – a statement that prompted outrage. The former official said: “Jacob has been brilliant performer inside the … [Read more...] about Rees-Mogg no-show for Tory manifesto launch fuels sidelining claims

Jacob Rees-Mogg has apologised after claiming Grenfell Tower fire victims did not use “common sense” and leave the burning building. The leader of the House of Commons was widely criticised on Tuesday morning after he said the stay-put policy issued by the fire service had limited people’s chances of survival and he would have ignored it. In a statement issued to the Evening Standard, he said: “I profoundly apologise.” He added: “What I meant to say is that I would have also listened to the fire brigade’s advice to stay and wait at the time. “However, with what we know now and with hindsight I wouldn’t and I don’t think anyone else would. “I would hate to upset the people of Grenfell if I was unclear in my comments. With hindsight and after reading the report no one would follow that advice. That’s the great tragedy.” Rees-Mogg told the LBC radio host Nick Ferrari that if either of them had been in a fire … [Read more...] about Rees-Mogg sorry for saying Grenfell victims lacked common sense

Nigel Farage has said he will change the name of the Brexit Party to the Reform Party after the UK leaves the European Union. It will campaign for changes to the voting system and the abolition of the House of Lords, he told Sky News. Mr Farage, who claimed he had already registered the new party name, said it would "change politics for good". The announcement comes after a week in which the Brexit Party lost four Members of the European Parliament. One of the MEPs, Annunziata Rees-Mogg, warned that "the Brexit Party are permitting votes to go away from the Conservatives, providing us with a Remain coalition that will do anything not to honour the Brexit referendum". Mr Farage also attacked the PM for his position on immigration. He told Sky's Ridge on Sunday: " Boris Johnson has always been very soft on the immigration issue, but you know what, there's an election on so tell people what they want to hear". He told Sky News's Sophy Ridge On Sunday: "They're (Tories) beginning to say … [Read more...] about Farage says he’s already picked the new name for the Brexit Party after we leave the EU