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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Jacob Rees-Mogg involved in scuffle at university campus | Jacob Rees-Mogg involved in scuffle at university campus |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Police investigating after Tory MP is filmed apparently trying to break up fight in Bristol | |
| Rowena Mason and agencies | Rowena Mason and agencies |
| Fri 2 Feb 2018 22.34 GMT | Fri 2 Feb 2018 22.34 GMT |
| First published on Fri 2 Feb 2018 20.46 GMT | First published on Fri 2 Feb 2018 20.46 GMT |
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| Police are investigating after Jacob Rees-Mogg was caught in the middle of a scuffle at a university campus when protesters disrupted a student event in Bristol. | |
| Video footage posted to social media captured the scenes at the University of the West of England, which appeared to show Rees-Mogg attempting to break up a fracas between protesters and onlookers. | |
| Avon and Somerset police launched an investigation and appealed for anyone to come forward with mobile phone footage to help the inquiry. | |
| The Conservative MP for North East Somerset, tipped by some as his party’s next leader, is seen as a divisive figure because of his rightwing views, including hardline Euroscepticism, opposition to abortion even in cases of rape, and his belief that climate change is not worth fighting. | The Conservative MP for North East Somerset, tipped by some as his party’s next leader, is seen as a divisive figure because of his rightwing views, including hardline Euroscepticism, opposition to abortion even in cases of rape, and his belief that climate change is not worth fighting. |
| He had been speaking at the university’s Politics and International Relations Society on Friday when the protesters appeared at the back of the room, some with scarves over their faces and one wearing dark glasses. Rees-Mogg walked to the back of the hall to talk to the protesters as they shouted: “Bigot” and other insults. One of them replied that he was not worth arguing with. | |
| A scuffle subsequently broke out, and Rees-Mogg was caught in the middle of the action. He later told the Telegraph he was “a complete weed” but was “absolutely fine” after the fracas and had “endured worse confrontations with the Guardian”. | |
| “They shouted at me, but they weren’t going to hit me. They didn’t want to talk about politics, they just wanted to stop the event. I’m of the sticks-and-stones school of thought,” he said. “I wanted to stop anyone being hit because the whole thing would have degenerated. I didn’t think anyone was going to hit me so I felt quite safe intervening. I spoke afterwards; I was there for ages.” | “They shouted at me, but they weren’t going to hit me. They didn’t want to talk about politics, they just wanted to stop the event. I’m of the sticks-and-stones school of thought,” he said. “I wanted to stop anyone being hit because the whole thing would have degenerated. I didn’t think anyone was going to hit me so I felt quite safe intervening. I spoke afterwards; I was there for ages.” |
| The university said it was believed a small group of protesters, who were not students at the university and did not have tickets to the event, broke into the lecture theatre through the back doors, before police and security were called. | |
| Somerset police said: “We were called to the University of the West of England’s Frenchay campus at about 6.30pm today following a report of a public order incident. | |
| “No arrests were made and an investigation is under way to see if any criminal offences were committed.” | |
| The BBC Somerset reporter James Craig said: “Just a few minutes after he started speaking, a group of protesters came into the back of the lecture theatre and started shouting anti-Conservative rhetoric at Jacob-Rees Mogg very loudly, a group of them, and sort of trying to shout him down, basically. | The BBC Somerset reporter James Craig said: “Just a few minutes after he started speaking, a group of protesters came into the back of the lecture theatre and started shouting anti-Conservative rhetoric at Jacob-Rees Mogg very loudly, a group of them, and sort of trying to shout him down, basically. |
| “But rather than halting the event, or ignoring them, Mr Rees-Mogg approached them and walked up to the back of the theatre where they were and tried to talk them down. | “But rather than halting the event, or ignoring them, Mr Rees-Mogg approached them and walked up to the back of the theatre where they were and tried to talk them down. |
| “But at that point various other members of the audience got involved as well and that’s when this scuffle … happened and a lot of people got involved. It looked to me like Jacob Rees-Mogg himself got pushed and shoved, although he insists he wasn’t. But it was a really aggressive and unexpected scene.” | “But at that point various other members of the audience got involved as well and that’s when this scuffle … happened and a lot of people got involved. It looked to me like Jacob Rees-Mogg himself got pushed and shoved, although he insists he wasn’t. But it was a really aggressive and unexpected scene.” |
| A post advertising the event on the group’s Facebook page said: “This will be a chance to talk to an experienced parliamentarian about the issues of the day, what it’s like to be an MP and how you can get there, or perhaps how exactly one pronounces ‘floccinaucinihilipilification’.” The society declined to comment on the incident. | A post advertising the event on the group’s Facebook page said: “This will be a chance to talk to an experienced parliamentarian about the issues of the day, what it’s like to be an MP and how you can get there, or perhaps how exactly one pronounces ‘floccinaucinihilipilification’.” The society declined to comment on the incident. |
| A string of MPs from across the parties said the violence at the event had been unacceptable. Liz Truss, a Treasury minister, said it was “appalling that some are determined to close down free speech and alternative views”, while Chris Bryant, a Labour MP, said: “I nearly always disagree with Jacob Rees-Mogg, but politics must be based on respect. Violence has no place.” | A string of MPs from across the parties said the violence at the event had been unacceptable. Liz Truss, a Treasury minister, said it was “appalling that some are determined to close down free speech and alternative views”, while Chris Bryant, a Labour MP, said: “I nearly always disagree with Jacob Rees-Mogg, but politics must be based on respect. Violence has no place.” |
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