‘If people want to call me Tory scum, I don’t mind’: Jacob Rees-Mogg shrugs off noisy protesters who heckled him as he arrived at Conservative Party Conference
- Jacob Rees-Mogg shrugged off the protesters who called him ‘Tory scum’
- He instead applauded his critics for practising their right to peacefully protest
- Mr Rees-Mogg said: ‘If people really want to call me Tory scum, I don’t mind’
Jacob Rees-Mogg has shrugged off the protesters who called him ‘Tory scum’ and instead applauded how having the freedom to peacefully protest is ‘marvellous.’
The Business Secretary, who required a police escort as he made his way to the Conservative Party conference, seemed unbothered by the demonstrators who chased and heckled him when he arrived in Birmingham on Sunday.
Mr Rees-Mogg, speaking at the convention Monday night, referred to the hostile reception of shouting protesters as a ‘warm welcome’ and said he ‘didn’t mind’ being insulted by the crowd.
Video footage of his arrival to the International Convention Centre showed Mr Rees-Mogg smiling Sunday night as frustrated Britons called him a w****r and a b*****d.
Fellow Tory MP Michael Fabricant also had vile abuse screamed at him by protesters outside the conference – with some even calling him a ‘Tory c***’.
Jacob Rees-Mogg (pictured Monday) has shrugged off the protesters who called him ‘Tory scum’ and instead applauded how having the right to peacefully protest is ‘marvellous’
The Business Secretary, who required a police escort (pictured) as he made his way to the Conservative Party conference, seemed unbothered by the demonstrators who chased and heckled him when he arrived in Birmingham on Sunday
Mr Rees-Mogg’s appointment by incoming Prime Minister Liz Truss was widely criticised by environmental groups due to his criticism of ‘climate alarmism’ and support for fracking.
The MP addressed the hostile demonstrators during his speech at the convention Monday night.
‘I want to thank you for giving me almost as warm a welcome as I got outside the hall,’ he told the crowd.
‘That’s rather marvellous, having a democracy where you can walk through the streets and people can exercise their rights to peaceful protest.
He added: ‘If people really want to call me Tory scum, I don’t mind.’
Police officers were forced to hold back protesters on Sunday who were heckling and screaming abuse at the Business Secretary
Mr Rees-Mogg did not seem fazed by the abuse he was getting and later said that the protests were ‘nothing new’
Jacob Rees-Mogg said Monday he would allow fracking to take place in his own back garden.
The Business Secretary, who is an advocate of reviving the controversial drilling for shale gas, spoke as he defended the Government’s decision to lift a ban in England.
Speaking at a Tory conference fringe event the the North East Somerset MP said he would be happy for it to take place near his stately pile in the West Country – especially if he got a cut of the profits.
He confirmed last month that firms extracting gas will be permitted to cause bigger earthquakes in a bid to kickstart production.
He made clear the limit of 0.5 on the Richter scale will be eased, potentially to 2.5, admitting that otherwise no mining would take place.
PM Liz Truss has previously stressed that any projects will require local support – with suggestions that local residents could get discounts on their energy bills in return for agreeing.
Mr Rees-Mogg went further today suggesting people could get money for allowing drilling to take place under their homes.
Asked if he would back it at his country home, the 17th-century Gournay Court in the parish of West Harptree, he said : ‘Yes, of course I would. I would be delighted, particularly if I get these royalties.’
His remarks to the conference echoed statements he made to Sky News on Sunday night while being led through the crowd by police.
‘There have been protests at Tory conferences since time immemorial, it’s nothing new,’ Mr Rees-Mogg told the TV network. ‘It’s a fact of democracy.
‘They’re shouting but it’s perfectly peaceful. And the right to peaceful expression of your view is fundamental to our constitution.’
Video footage captured the Business Secretary running the gauntlet of hecklers shouting ‘Tory scum’ at him as he entered the conference earlier.
Mr Rees-Mogg faced a hostile reception as he crossed Victoria Square in the city centre, which hundreds of demonstrators descended on to vent their frustration at the Tory Government.
As he made his way to the International Convention Centre for the annual conference, the MP was seen being escorted by several officers who were not letting him out of their sight as protesters shouted at him.
Officers could be seen pushing protesters away from Mr Rees-Mogg as they looked to get his attention and film him indiscreetly.
Meanwhile, Mr Fabricant also had abuse hurled at him outside the conference.
Video shows the MP walking through Birmingham before a young man walks up beside him and starts to follow him.
The protester begins shouting and gesturing angrily at Mr Fabricant before he seems to lurch towards the MP for Lichfield.
Dozens of other protesters appear to surround Mr Fabricant as he walks into the conference.
Clearly concerned for his safety, a police officer escorting him begins to shield him and and walk him away.
As he walked through the crowd the Tory MP was repeatedly asked why he had decided to go through ‘the middle of the protesters’.
He replied jovially: ‘to be honest I didn’t know which other way to go, but it’s nice to meet people!’
Tory MP for Lichfield, Michael Fabricant, had a police escort as he arrived at the Conservative Party Conference on Sunday
Dozens of other protesters appeared to surround Mr Fabricant on Sunday as he walked into the conference
Meanwhile, backbench Tory MP Michael Fabricant was surrounded by protesters outside the conference
Mr Fabricant went on to insist that he had not been attacked by protesters, contrary to reports on social media that he was ‘pushed quite violently’.
He said he had been ‘directed wrongly right into the middle of the protest.’
He added that this could have made the protesters think he was ‘deliberately provoking them’.
‘Social media is suggesting I was ‘attacked’ as I tried to get into #CPC2022. I was not,’ he tweeted.
He added: ‘No one touched me. Just shouted abuse. They were just loud!’
The lawmaker added that one protester, not seen in the video, ‘tried to blow a plastic horn in my ear while I was walking.’
‘I asked him to stop, but he refused. So I grabbed his horn and threw it away. I think he was more shocked than me!’
But like his colleague, Mr Rees-Mogg, Mr Fabricant downplayed the aggressive behaviour towards him, calling the crowd ‘noisy but self disciplined’.
He said despite the torrent of verbal abuse he received, ‘we live in a democracy and people have every right to protest.’
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