High time that Tories turned to ‘The Mogg’

IN my mind, there is no doubt – Theresa May has to go. It is not her fault. Like a has-been Caesar, she has passed her sell-by date and the Ides of March are well and truly here. Around her, knives are drawn as she limps on, coughing her way to resignation, which, for the good of the country should be very soon.

Her performance at the Conservative conference last week sealed her fate. When the people were looking for strong leadership all they got was a Python-esque “sorry”.

Tory party conferences don’t appear to be what they used to be. There is too much emphasis on presentation and not enough on debate. It all appears to be very metropolitan and middle class. The grassroots membership feel as if they are just cannon fodder to be brought out at an election and then forgotten forever. No longer does it appear that they have any say in policy and that ordinary people should agree with those in charge and give nothing other than their time and money.

Like it or not, when Theresa goes – and she will – there will not be another election. The Tories are going to cling to power for as long as they can and quite rightly. I would be so worried if Labour got into government before it had sorted out its ingrained and endemic antiSemitism.

This beggars the question as to who should be the next leader of the Conservative Party and therefore the new Prime Minister.

Since the rise of the Corbynistas, politics has changed. People are sick of the same old professional politician who has no real policy or backbone and changes their mind to be in tune with anything trending on Twitter.

Politicians appear to not hold any strong opinions any more. They go for the sound bite and when pressed, refuse to enter into debate and fail to answer questions. They sing from the party hymn book as if they were residents of North Korea. Basically, with only a couple of exceptions, politicians are morally very bland.

I really do believe that people are looking for something new and are prepared to support someone like Jeremy Corbyn, with all his false promises and ill thought-out policies, because he is different from the usual politician. Even if you don’t agree with him, you have to admire him.

Sadly, he has too much Soviet-era baggage to have a realistic prospect of being Prime Minister. However, without him, the Labour Party would be a spent force in politics, and he is responsible for encouraging young people to re-engage with politics.

If Theresa May should stay on and go head to head with Corbyn, I predict Labour would have a landslide victory that would see them in power for decades to come.

The Tories have only one person who can stop this from happening. An old Etonian with a pinstripe suit and a son called Sixtus. A bespectacled throwback to the 1930s with impeccable pronunciation and a desire to engage anyone who confronts him in debate.

Jacob Rees-Mogg looks as if he has walked out of the pages of a Bertie Wooster story. Yet, there is something about him that is strangely alluring. He has the ability to remain calm when confronted. Rees-Mogg is a man of incredible politeness, even when being goaded. He listens, thinks and then answers without avoiding the question.

His views and beliefs are at odds with homosexuality and abortion, but he is on record as saying that he puts the laws of the land first.

There is something very refreshing about him. When I hear him speak, I actually want to listen. Even if I will never agree with a word he says, I want to know why he holds those views and find myself respecting him for his honesty.

In an incredibly weird way, he connects with the working classes and young people. When the debating chamber at the Tory conference was half empty, there were queues of people desperate to listen to him speak. Young people gathered around him for selfies. The cult of “The Mogg” has been born.

I readily admit that I have an in-built prejudice against the ‘Toff ”. The likes of David Cameron usually make my skin crawl. I have had to doff my cap at the local gentry far too often as a priest to have any respect for the privileged classes. The Mogg is different. He is incredibly likeable and makes people feel they are in safe hands.

In difficult times like these, Britain needs leadership. Someone who has a backbone and deeply held beliefs, a strong captain to steady the ship through the storm.

Mogg is a proven businessman who knows how to run a successful company with an intellect to match. He is honest and straight talking which is an unusual quality for a politician.

Perhaps, the Tories have a secret weapon in their midst that could save them and our country from a political disaster.