While Jacob Rees-Mogg and his strongly pro-Brexit stance has received a warm reception at the Tory party conference, the reception was less positive from a group of protestors who attempted to picket a fringe event the noted back bencher was due to speak at.
Yet the MP for North East Somerset was widely praised for his polite response to the aggressive anti-Tory protestor who disrupted the event.
Mr Rees-Mogg reportedly received “massive round of applause” and a “standing ovation” when he took to the stage with fellow Brexiteer Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.
However, a group of left-wing protestors burst into the venue ahead of the event, and shouts of “Tories out!” were heard around Manchester’s Town Hall.
Shabbir Lakha claims to be an ‘Officer’ at Stop the War Coalition on social media and has been pictured with the group’s former leader, Jeremy Corbyn, multiple times. (Facebook)
Speaking from a lectern next to a photograph of former Tory leader Margaret Thatcher, Mr Rees-Mogg appealed for calm, saying: “Ladies and gentlemen, let us have a proper and thoughtful debate.”
A protester, identified as Shabbir Lakha from the Alt-Left group Stop the War Coalition, confronted Rees-Mogg over food abortion and austerity, telling him: “You’re not welcome here. Get out.”
He called the MP, who is pro-life, a “disgusting” person.
Stop the War, conceived as a front group for the Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party (SWP), was led by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn for more than ten years and has previously advocated war with Israel and blamed the West for Islamist terror attacks.
Mr. Rees-Mogg told the man: “We may disagree on things, but just because you disagree with somebody that doesn’t make them a bad person. The two are separate.”
The man replied: “Mate, the things you’re saying are harming people’s lives. People are dying because of the things you are advocating.”
Mr. Rees-Mogg, a loyal supporter of Prime Minister Theresa May, told the man that unemployment was a record low and he believes Tory policy is making people’s lives better.
Unconvinced, the protester shot back: “What are you on about? You’re ruining people’s lives,” before labelling the MP “a despicable person.”
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