Jacob Rees-Mogg addresses UCL Conservative Society
Source: UCL Conservative Society
Max Hunder reports on the cabinet minister’s recent talk at UCL.
Last Thursday saw Leader of the House of Commons and minor Instagram celebrity, Jacob Rees-Mogg, visit UCL to speak at the university’s Conservative society. Mr. Rees-Mogg gave a 15 minute speech, followed by 45 minutes of questions from UCL students; these prompted concise responses when Mr Rees-Mogg was happy to answer, and subtle obfuscations when he wasn’t.
Approximately 150 people were present in the Ambrose Fleming lecture theatre to hear the Tory cabinet minister deliver a polished but rather cautious speech, large parts of which were sweeping extolments of the virtues of limited government with scant detail in reference to specific policies. “This is the contradistinction between conservatives and the socialist: the socialist thinks that the interests of the collective are overwhelming and ultimately will ensure people lead better lives because they’ve been told to. Conservatives think that in practice that simply doesn’t work, and that the people who know best how to lead their lives are the individuals themselves,” Mr Rees-Mogg told a sympathetic audience who cheered and applauded him throughout the evening — the committee’s concerns about protestors or hecklers were not realised.
When he moved onto the subject of home ownership, he asked the audience to raise their hands if they thought they would be able to own their own home by the age of 35: about half of those present did so. Presented with this sight, the Leader of the Commons gained an expression of mild incredulity, and pointed out that if UCL students, the “intellectual elite of the United Kingdom”, were this sceptical of their future homeowning prospects, then the picture across the country must be a “gloomy prospect”. He came to the conclusion that “Conservatives have to make sure that people feel that the ambition of owning their own home is an achievable ambition across the country, not just for those who are likely to be the most successful. We have to make sure that we have an economic system which allows people to keep the fruit of their labours.” It was not made clear how this would solve the current shortage of affordable housing in London, where according to the British Property Foundation only 39% of new build homes are bought by people intending to live in them.
The 15-minute speech was followed by 45 minutes of unvetted questions from the audience — a bold move for a Tory cabinet member speaking at a university. The questions were mostly sympathetic, but rigorous nonetheless; even the most challenging of them didn’t seem to give the minister much trouble. When asked why a second referendum was not “democracy in action”, Mr Rees-Mogg replied without hesitation: “You have to deliver on leaving before you should have another vote on re-joining.” When questioned on HS2 he said “I’m going to hide behind collective responsibility, I’m afraid. The decision hasn’t been made and a review is underway.”
The most difficult question for Mr Rees-Mogg focused on his sudden removal from public view after an interview on November 5th last year, where he sparked a media storm by implying that the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire did not use their “common sense” by staying put in their homes. Asked why he disappeared entirely from national news programmes after the LBC show, the minister immediately began to explain the relative merits of a set of standing stones at Stanton Drew over Stonehenge, and gave a detailed analysis of the Wurzels’ 1967 hit about the sleepy Somerset village where the Neolithic boulders are located, before rounding off with “but a period of silence on my part on the national scene I think cheered everyone up, outside North-East Somerset” — said so quickly that one hardly noticed it. It was skilful obfuscation; he had correctly guessed that the audience would not press him further for a proper answer to the question.
When asked by a fellow double-breasted suit wearer whether he could give any sartorial advice, the Leader of the Commons responded pointedly: “Don’t copy me”, eliciting the night’s biggest round of laughter and applause from the audience.