Tori Jacob Rees-Mogg told Andrew Marr on live radio today to “get a sense of perspective” after he revealed his father’s death while Boris Johnson was partying.
In an extraordinary clash, the cabinet minister backed his remark that Partygate was “fluff”, even after the broadcast legend revealed his “strong anger”.
Mr Marr, who is presenting the LBC Tonight show with Andrew Marr after leaving the BBC last year after a 21-year stay, said: “I buried my father the week one of these parties took place and it was a party.
“He was an elder of the Church of Scotland – this church was locked and closed.
Top Tori said he did not regret the word fluff (Image: LBC) Read more Related articles Read more related articles
“We had a small gathering, most of the family was not there. The other parishioners he would like to be there could not be there because we followed the rules.
“I was very angry about that too – and I don’t think that’s fluff.
Mr Rees-Mogg initially avoided answering the question, instead saying that closing churches was a “big mistake”, Mirror Online reports.
But pressured by the TV operator, he said he did not regret using the word fluff – even now the prime minister has been fined by police.
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The Brexit Minister for Opportunities said: “What is happening now two years later, against what is happening in Ukraine, what is happening with the crisis in the cost of living, one must feel the prospect.
“What is happening in Ukraine is fundamental to the security of the Western world.
“And you’re comparing that to a fine for something that happened two years ago.”
He added: “I think we need to look at what is fundamental to the security of our nation and the security of the Western world.”
Mr Marr told the Tory minister that what had happened to him “had happened to so many others up and down the country”. He added: “We find, I would say, the word ‘fluff’ quite offensive.”
But Mr Rees-Mogg said: “I still think that compared to the war in Ukraine … a fine for something that happened two years ago is not the most pressing political issue.”
He added: “The headline of the Daily Mail said ‘remember there is a war’ and that’s something we need to remember – we need a sense of perspective.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson to address House of Commons later today (Image: PA) Read more Related Articles Read More Related Articles
He said that while the prime minister was sorry for the bereaved families, “all deaths are sad”, including those not caused by covid.
Earlier, lawmakers moaned in protest as Boris Johnson apologized for his fine from Partygate – but AGAIN he claimed he did not know his own covid rules.
The prime minister apologized “unreservedly” – before immediately denying that he had deliberately misled MPs when he said that “all guidelines have been fully followed” in №10.
He told parliament: “Let me also say, not as a mitigation or an apology – but simply because he explains my previous words in this room – that it did not occur to me then or afterwards that a cabinet meeting just before a vital covid strategy meeting could constitutes an infringement of the rules. “
Deputies also groaned, as he strangely claimed that his fine for a crime would make him a fiercer enemy of instigator Vladimir Putin.
The prime minister said that due to public anger, “I feel an even greater sense of obligation to fulfill the priorities of the British people – and to respond in the best traditions of our country to Putin’s barbaric attack on Ukraine.”
Andrew Marr said: “I felt very angry about it – and I don’t consider it fluff” (Image: LBC)
But former Tory chief whip Mark Harper was the last to leave with a devastating attack on the prime minister.
Mr Harper said: “I am sorry to say that we have a Prime Minister who has broken the laws he has told the country to abide by, he has not been outspoken about it.
“And [he] he will now ask the worthy men and women on these benches to defend what I consider to be indefensible.
“I am very sorry to have to say this, but I no longer think he is worthy of the great position he holds.
Safia Ngah, a spokeswoman for the families bequeathed by COVID-19 for justice, said: “Today’s apology from the Prime Minister was the words of someone who regrets being caught, not someone who regrets the damage he has done.
“His claim that he did not realize that the rules are being broken is just ridiculous and shows that he still considers us idiots.
Mr Rees-Mogg denied that the prime minister had misled parliament. He told LBC: “The prime minister has received a fixed notice of punishment from the police for an event he said was part of a routine day.
“It is quite possible that the prime minister has thought about what he thinks he said in front of parliament, and the police have come to a different conclusion. This is not strange. It is not unreasonable. And that’s not unfair. “
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