Jacob rees-mogg

“What is going on with the conference recess?” asked Valerie Vaz during Jacob Rees-Mogg’s first outing for Business Questions as Leader of the House. She sounded exasperated, and who can blame her? After all, it was the sixth week in a row she asked the question. And it was the sixth week that she was fobbed off. So what is going on? Normally conference recess dates are bundled together with the dates of other recesses and tabled earlier in the parliamentary session. In 2018, the recesses for the forthcoming summer, conference, November and Christmas were approved on March 20th. In 2017, summer and conference went together on June 22nd (after

Despite a number of MPs announcing that they will back Theresa May’s Brexit now that she has said she will leave within weeks of it passing, senior members of the European Research Group have come out fighting this evening to insist the deal still doesn’t have the votes. Steve Baker received what one source described as an ‘enormous standing ovation’. The source said: ‘His voice was cracking with emotion, so much so that at the end he was hugged by Jacob [Rees-Mogg] and others at the top table. We are not a hugging group.’ Baker’s speech included the following lines: ‘What is our liberty for if not to govern ourselves?’

A woman dressed as a nun is standing outside the London Palladium with a placard, warning about ‘an evening with a religious extremist’. She refers to Jacob Rees-Mogg, who sold all 2,300 seats at the venue in a fortnight — a feat that enraged his critics all the more. The nun eventually found a loudspeaker to address Spectator subscribers, who waved cheerfully as they filed in to the theatre. This stage has played host to entertainers like Bruce Forsyth, Marvin Gaye, Tommy Steele and Jimmy Tarbuck — and now, the backbench MP for North East Somerset, offering an evening of political discussion. We live in strange times. He arrives late,

A woman dressed as a nun is standing outside the London Palladium with a placard, warning about ‘an evening with a religious extremist’. She refers to Jacob Rees-Mogg, who sold all 2,300 seats at the venue in a fortnight — a feat that enraged his critics all the more. The nun eventually found a loudspeaker to address Spectator subscribers, who waved cheerfully as they filed in to the theatre. This stage has played host to entertainers like Bruce Forsyth, Marvin Gaye, Tommy Steele and Jimmy Tarbuck — and now, the backbench MP for North East Somerset, offering an evening of political discussion. We live in strange times. He arrives late,

This evening Jacob Rees-Mogg joined Rod Liddle in being able to say he has sold out the London Palladium for a Spectator event. The arch-Brexiteer appeared before a packed crowd – of over 2,000 – for an in conversation with editor Fraser Nelson. Despite a busy day in the Commons on Brexit and a spot on the stage, the Moggster still found time in the interval to help out on the ice cream stall. Here are seven Rees-Mogg takeaways from the event: 1. Most people who want to delay Brexit want to stop Brexit In reference to the news today that Theresa May will give MPs a chance to vote to

Jacob Rees-Mogg often describes himself as a straight-talker who gives honest answers, no matter how unpopular they might be. But did his performance on Question Time last night live up to this billing? It was held in leafy Aylesbury, which lies on the proposed HS2 path thereby hitting house prices in the area – which explains why only a single member of the audience admitted to supporting it last night. The Moggster got perhaps the loudest cheer of the night when he was asked what he thought of the project and replied: ‘Oh, it’s a complete waste of money. And the costs and costs go up’. Perish the thought that he was

Brexiteers are trying to put on a brave face over the lack of 48 letters needed to trigger a confidence vote in the Prime Minister. Having begun the week certain that they would trigger a vote, they now claim they are giving May time to reconsider and they may move in December. So, what’s the truth – a kind gesture or a failed plot? In order to let readers decide for themselves what went wrong, Mr S has gathered a timeline of events: Thursday, 15th November Theresa May’s deal is approved by Cabinet – minus a resignation or two. Henry Smith MP posts a photo of his no confidence letter

Only a handful of MPs have spoken up in support of Theresa May’s Brexit deal in the Commons. But the criticism from a certain Tory backbencher will worry her more than most. Jacob Rees-Mogg took to his feet in the Commons to ask why he shouldn’t now hand in a letter of no confidence in the Prime Minister. Here’s what he said: ‘My right honourable friend – and she is unquestionably honourable – said we would leave the customs union. Annex two says otherwise. My right honourable friend said that she would maintain the integrity of the United Kingdom. A whole protocol says otherwise. My right honourable friend said that

Oh dear. The bulk of MPs haven’t even see Theresa May’s proposed deal yet but already suspicion is growing that it’s a stinker. In that vein, Jacob Rees-Mogg appeared on Newsnight on Tuesday evening where – in a significant change in tone – he appeared to suggest he could write a letter of ‘no confidence’ to 1922 chair Graham Brady in the near future if the rumours are correct. The arch-Brexiteer who has previously said the policy – not May – ought to change, said there would come a time when he can’t support her because she’s so tied to Brexit policy: “There comes a point at which the policy

Jacob Rees-Mogg won support from across the political spectrum on Wednesday when the MP and his children were ambushed outside of their home. Class War activist Ian Bone took it upon himself to inform the Conservative politician’s young children that their ‘daddy is a totally horrible person’: ‘Lots of people don’t like your daddy, you know that? He’s probably not told you that. Lots of people hate him.’ The incident led to mass condemnation from the Left as well as Tories. So, why would people come up with the idea of harassing an elected Member of Parliament in this way? Mr S wonders whether the answer can be found in a statement

Will Theresa May’s troubles ever end? Jacob Rees-Mogg has put the PM under more pressure today, telling LBC that he would have preferred Boris Johnson lead negotiations with the EU. The ERG Chair said: ‘Two years ago, in the Conservative Party leadership campaign, I supported Boris Johnson, because I thought he would deliver Brexit extraordinarily well. I haven’t seen anything that would cause me to change my mind on that. I think that had he become Prime Minister, we would have negotiated from a greater position of strength, and would be heading towards a clearer, cleaner Brexit, rather than the muddle of Chequers.’ Pushed as to whether he would like

It may seem odd that a cabal of politicians, celebrities and millionaires can successfully present themselves as a great democratic force and seek to overturn Brexit. But the people behind the People’s Vote have one big advantage: their opponents are in disarray. Vote Leave ceased campaigning after the referendum. Its organisers felt they had accomplished their mission, and the Conservative government could be trusted to execute Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union. Boris Johnson now describes that decision as an ‘absolutely fatal’ mistake. As foreign secretary, Johnson admitted to dinner guests earlier this summer that ‘some of us were seduced by high office in government’. He and other key Brexiteers,

What do Boris Johnson, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Dominic Cummings all have in common? They are Brexiteers, of course. Yet little is it known that they all studied history or classics at university. Add to this list John Redwood, Bill Cash, Daniel Hannan, Owen Paterson and Douglas Carswell — some of the most influential Eurosceptic MPs from the past 30 years. Michael Gove may have studied English literature, but as education secretary he sought to establish a ‘narrative of British progress’ in the history curriculum. Boris has written a biography of Winston Churchill and Nick Timothy has written a biography of Joseph Chamberlain. Even two of the so-called ‘Bad Boys of

Boris Johnson’s resignation speech wasn’t the Geoffrey Howe moment some had built it up to be. But the former Foreign Secretary’s critique of Theresa May’s Brexit policy certainly gave Tory MPs food for thought. Johnson made clear he thought the policy amounted to Brexit in name only – and pushed for a change of course. Given that the Prime Minister shows no sign of backing down and is adamant hers is the right way, this presents the Brexiteers with a problem. Despite their insistence they would rather May stay in office, will this position be tenable in two months time if nothing has changed? And who could they turn to

It’s day four of the Brexiteer rebellion and Theresa May appears to have shored up her position… for now. The eurosceptics who take the greatest issue with her Chequers blue print – thought to be around 70 Tory MPs – don’t think they have the numbers as of yet to win a no confidence and, they say, this isn’t even their preferred option. What they want is for the Prime Minister to change course – but No 10 insist that they won’t budge. Unless she does, Guerrilla tactics have been threatened – so get ready for more resignations. However, as I say in today’s i paper, the biggest problem from

Although Moggmentum has been building for some time among the Tory grassroots, conventional wisdom dictates that Jacob Rees-Mogg is still very unlikely to make it to No 10 – no matter how enthusiastic the members – thanks to the fact that he doesn’t have the support of enough Tory MPs to get onto the ballot paper in the first place. However, is a change a coming? Mr S only asks after Theresa May’s soft Brexit proposal appeared to get a number of Tory MPs wondering who would do a better job. Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Andrew Bridgen – the outspoken Brexiteer and member of the European Research Group

Trying to make Christian politicians squirm is a favourite occasional sport among political broadcasters in Westminster. The former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron was, for a season, the preferred quarry as he writhed for the cameras most obligingly under increasingly forensic questioning of his views on gay marriage. More recently, the attention has turned to Jacob Rees-Mogg, who has now endured several rounds of on-air questioning about his Catholic faith. Refreshingly, Rees-Mogg has proven to be both unapologetic and unflappable when quizzed about his faith.  On Tuesday, he appeared on the Daily Politics, where Jo Coburn invited him to praise the many worthy qualities of Ruth Davidson, as a politician and

Jacob Rees’Mogg’s appearance on the new Conservative Home Moggcast has caused a stir in Westminster. In the broadcast, the arch-eurosceptic – and chair of the European Research Group – questions Theresa May’s commitment to Brexit: ‘I fear we’re getting to the point where you wonder whether the Government really wants to leave at all.’ Although the comments are unlikely to go down well in Downing Street, there is one aspect of the Moggster’s comments that will ease concern in No 10. On the recurring topic of an early election, Rees-Mogg says such talk is dangerous – and something that should be avoided: ‘The national polling level is very encouraging. It’s