Tory toff Jacob Rees Mogg suggests his nanny gives him permission to lift up his own toddler
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Tory toff Jacob Rees Mogg has suggested he had to get permission from his nanny to hold his own toddler.
The millionaire Old Etonian, who has never changed a nappy despite having six children, raised laughs with the revealing off-the-cuff remark in a London Q&A tonight - where protesters railed against his conservative views outside.
He said he had been at a Commons committee when he realised his suit was "absolutely covered in my two-year-old’s breakfast."
He added: “I had made the mistake of picking him out of his high chair. And really, I don’t know how nanny allowed me to do this and I got permission.
"Nonetheless, all his breakfast had appeared on my suit."
During the Q&A at the Mile End Institute, ultra-traditionalist Mr Rees-Mogg was also caught out over his excuse for why he has never changed a nappy.
(Image: Jack Taylor)
(Image: Jack Taylor)
He claimed his nanny, who has been working for his aristocratic family for 52 years, does not think it's a good idea for him to change nappies because she "thinks it's her job".
But he then immediately admitted the same rules don't apply to his wife Helena.
He said: "Oh no no, my wife's definitely changed lots of nappies.
"I'm not in a great deal of the time. It’s not as if I’m at home 24 hours a day, whereas my wife is a stay-at home mother."
He added: "You'd be amazed by how many men I've spoken to who've either said to me they've never changed any nappies either, or lucky me."
Protesters outside the event railed against "misogynistic" Mr Rees-Mogg and held banners saying "kick out the anti-choice homophobes".
He is against abortion even in cases of rape and voted against gay marriage.
During the Q&A he insisted he would not put his beliefs into law if he became Prime Minister, saying: "They are not the law of the land, they are not going to be the law of the land... Mine is one conscience against many."
But he also faced angry audience members, who told him poverty worsened by Tory policies was an "absolute disgrace".
One audience member told him: "A lot of people right now are dying because of your party’s policies."
The MP claimed the welfare safety net "is a working one" and declared: "This slightly hysterical talk about people are dying is just belittling the argument. It’s just not true."
The audience member shouted back: "It is!"
(Image: PA)
Mr Rees-Mogg, who leads the hardline pro-Brexit European Research Group of Tory MPs, stood by the "conspiracy theory" that there was a plot by civil servants to sabotage Hard Brexit.
The MP said he still had a "worrying suspicion" about "bonkers" Treasury calculations and its interaction with pro-Remain bodies like the Confederation of British Industry.
He said: "You just wonder whether there isn’t a pattern in that, whether there isn't some orchestration rather than being an accidental constellation of the stars."
He added Treasury forecasts "are designed to a particular end, and the end is to show the only thing we should do, lo and behold, is stay in the Customs Union - which basically means not leaving the EU."
But in a blue-on-blue attack, he added: "The blame always has to lie with ministers... I think it’s the Chancellor of the Exchequer who has to take responsibility for his department."
(Image: REX/Shutterstock)
The Tory told of his days growing up in London's opulent Smith Square, a few doors away from then-Prime Minister Harold Wilson.
He said he has never been to Lidl, Nando's or IKEA because "I'm not Mr Flat-Pack", but has been to Wetherspoons, McDonalds and Greggs because their chocolate eclairs are "jolly good".
And he confirmed he will not sign a no-confidence letter in Theresa May "as long as Mrs May is Prime Minister".
He said: "I think the Conservative Party gets itself into an awful muddle with leadership elections, that they create an enormous amount of bitterness and very rarely leave you better off than you were before.
"I think it took the Tory party 20 years to recover from the decapitation of Margaret Thatcher."
He also signalled support for Formula One bosses banning "grid girls" because he believes women should be treated with respect.
He said: "I believe in a free society where people should be free to do what they want. But, as you know, I'm quite old fashioned and I believe in treating ladies with respect.
"And I don't think grid girls is treating ladies with respect.
"In fact, I think it is viewing them, it is objectifying them, and, frankly, I have never felt comfortable with it.
"Perhaps I'm just an old prude, a bit of a stuffed shirt. I am quite happy that these things are fading out."