Jacob Rees-Mogg has sounded the alarm over attempts by a group of anti-Brexit Conservative Members of Parliament, warning that their attempt to frustrate the will of the British people could put hard-left leader Jeremy Corbyn in power.
Pointing out that the group of never-Brexit Tories, said to be a group of some 30 in claims made over the weekend, were acting against the manifesto they were elected on in the 2017 general election, Tory Brexiteer Mr Rees-Mogg said they also risked putting Jeremy Corbyn in Downing Street.
Discussing the potential tactics that anti-Brexit rebels have discussed using, Mr Rees-Mogg noted, in particular, the threat that hardcore remainers in Parliament — which itself is overwhelmingly dominated by remain voters — to vote down the government altogether. He said on London’s LBC radio Monday morning:
…there are a number of people in the Conservative Party who are deeply opposed to leaving the European Union full stop. Forget about whether it is with or without a deal, they don’t want to leave and they have been trying to stop the referendum result taking effect for some time. They are led by people like Dominic Grieve and Ken Clarke.
They are trying to frustrate a democratic decision, and some of them ignoring what they stood for election on in 2017. Yes, they will try to stop us leaving without a deal and there are two ways in which they can do that. They can do that through a vote of no confidence in the government, but would any Conservative really rather have Jeremy Corbyn in office than leave the European Union? Would they take that potentially catastrophic risk not just to the economy, but to the country?
The threat of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn entering office if the Conservatives relinquish power is a serious one. A member of the Labour party’s old-left wing and supported by the militant Momentum faction, Mr Corbyn’s leadership of the party has been marred by a succession of antisemitism scandals, while those around him have pushed increasingly extreme political positions.
Conservative remainers are reportedly considering a range of options to prevent Britain leaving the European Union, and given the government does not have a governing majority in the house and rules only thanks to the agreement of a small pro-Brexit regional party, the alleged 30 rebels could be a major deciding factor.