Jacob Rees-Mogg has opened up on his parenting style, admitting he is a “pushover” when it comes to dealing with his children.
The Conservative MP spoke to Dan Wootton in an exclusive GB News interview, where he discussed his “love” of family life.
In a candid account, GB News’ newest presenter admitted: “I’m a complete pushover.
“I enormously love being a dad. It’s wonderful and I love seeing my children grow and develop.
“It’s very exciting, it’s so interesting as well.”
The former Leader of the House of Commons is a father of six children, and has previously attracted criticism over his parenting, including from ex-Labour deputy leader, Harriet Harman.
Harman called Rees-Mogg a “deadbeat dad” following his revelation that he had never changed one of his children’s nappies.
Rees-Mogg said: “Couldn’t give tuppence about it.
“People say things in politics, and one shouldn’t worry about it at all.”
The Tory MP spoke on the “importance” of family, admitting he wouldn’t advise on a specific style of parenting to others.
He said: “That’s a matter for them [whether to tell other families how to operate].
“But I think family is very important. I think it’s very important for the happiness and growth of children in the stable background.”
It comes after Rees-Mogg accused Rishi Sunak of imitating Theresa May’s doomed Brexit strategy as Tory Eurosceptics were urged to allow the “time and space” needed to fix the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The prominent Brexiteer questioned why “so much political capital” was being spent on brokering a new deal without ensuring the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and his wing of the Conservative Party were on board.
On his ConservativeHome podcast, Rees-Mogg said: “There seems to me to be no point in agreeing a deal that does not restore powersharing.
“That must be the objective. If it doesn’t achieve that objective, I don’t understand why the Government is spending political capital on something that won’t ultimately succeed.”
He said the Bill has the support of “the person who had a mandate from the British voters” – Boris Johnson – and he said Sunak should first get the approval of the European Research Group (ERG) of Conservative Eurosceptics.
“I don’t know why so much political capital has been spent on something without getting the DUP and the ERG onside first,” Rees-Mogg said.
It was “very similar to what happened with Theresa May” where a policy would be presented in the hope that people would “conveniently fall in behind” it, he said.
“Life doesn’t work like that. It’s important to get support for it first before you finalise the details and that doesn’t seem to have been done here.”
