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Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg has revealed he is opposed to abortion, even for women who have been raped.

The traditionalist backbencher, who has become the unlikely favourite to replace Theresa May as Prime Minister, this morning said he was “completely opposed” to abortion, adding: “Life begins at the point of conception.”

Asked if his opposition was so absolute it included cases of rape and incest, he told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “I’m afraid so. Life is sacrosanct. It begins at the point of conception, and I think it is wrong.”

He admitted a woman who became pregnant after being raped by a family member would have the right to an abortion “under UK law”, and that that law is unlikely to change.

But he said in his opinion “abortion is morally indefensible.”

Rees-Mogg also said he supported the teachings of the Catholic church, which opposes same sex marriage, because marriage is a “sacrament.”

He added: “The teaching of the Catholic church is completely clear. The marriage issue is the important thing. This is not how people arrange their lives. It’s that marriage is a sacrament, and a sacrament is under the authority of the church, not of the state.

“This is exactly the argument that Thomas More made in opposition to the marriage of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.”

And he claimed the Conservative Party was “much more tolerant” of religious faith than the Liberal Democrats , after Tim Farron’s leadership was damaged by his refusal to say whether he believed gay sex was a sin.

He said: “The Lib Dems pretend that they’re liberal, but they could not cope with having a Christian as their leader.

“I think the Conservatives are much more tolerant of religious faith, and so they should be. It’s all very well to say we live in a multicultural country until you’re a Christian. Until you hold the traditional views of the Catholic church. That seems to be fundamentally wrong.

“People are entitled to hold these views, but also the democratic majority is entitled to have the laws of the land as they are - which do not go with the Catholic church, and will not go with the Catholic church.”

A Number 10 spokesperson said the Prime Minister didn't "happen to agree" with Mr Rees-Mogg, but that it was "a matter of conscience."

Labour's Yvette Cooper said the idea that the Conservative Party would consider someone with Mr Rees-Mogg's views as a potential leader was "an appalling thought."

She told Sky News: "Eveybody’s entitled to their own personal views and their own personal views and their own conscience views about an issue like abortion, but for somebody who the Conservative Party seem to be suggesting could be the next Prime Minister to want to control women’s bodies in this way, even in cases like rape and incest, I personally find quite shocking.

"And the shocking thing is not Jacob Rees Mogg’s personal views, he’s entitled to them. The shocking thing is that so many people in the Conservative Party seem to think he should be their next leader.

"I think that’s an appalling thought."

A spokesperson for pro-choice and safe abortion group Marie Stopes International said: “Mr Rees-Mogg is entitled to his opinion. It does nothing to change the fact that women in the UK have benefited from access to safe and legal abortion for 50 years, and will continue to do so.

“Restricting access to abortion only makes it more likely that women will risk their health and their lives through dangerous backstreet procedures. Our teams around the world deal with the terrible impact of this every day. No one should be seeking to replicate this situation in the UK.”

Asked if he would run for the country’s top job, he refused to entirely rule it out, saying: “I can tell you I’m not desperate to be Prime Minister….It’s 99.9%…. I just want to be realistic and sensible about this.”