The Business Secretary has said he doesn’t mind being called ‘Tory scum’ after he was booed and chased by protesters outside the Conservative Party Conference.
Standing on the main stage of the conference, Jacob Rees-Mogg said: “I think that having a democracy where you can walk through the streets and people can exercise their right to protest peacefully shows the strength of our society and if people want to call me Tory scum I don’t mind.”
In his first major speech as Business Secretary in front of a large audience of Conservatives, Mr Rees-Mogg explained how Britain could be “intelligent net zero“.
He said: “It’s about making decisions that reduce carbon, but also make us more prosperous. It doesn’t mean that everything that I say is going to happen tomorrow, but it’s about a programme that makes sure we don’t harm our industry so that we go green in ways that create rather than destroy prosperity.
“Because cheap energy is essential to a flourishing economy, but in a way, it’s the foundation of a flourishing economy.”
The Business Secretary reiterated that the government aimed to secure “cheap and plentiful energy supplies”.
Jacob Rees-Mogg said: “That may lead socialist commentators to paint me as a fossil fuel junkie, but I am neither fossil fuel junkie nor junkie of any other variety.
“So, let me reassure you that I am committed to net zero by 2050, but the green agenda does not mean an agenda of poverty, does not contradict the growth agenda.”
