Tory grandee Sir Nicholas Soames has launched a searing attack on Boris Johnson’s leadership and Jacob Rees-Mogg, whom he called a “fraud”, adding the Conservative party is lurching towards a divisive, potentially catastrophic form of “hard-right” conservatism.

In an interview with the Times, Soames – who is the grandson of Sir Winston Churchill – said the Conservatives were starting to resemble a “Brexit sect”, after he had the whip removed for rebelling against the Johnson government along with 20 other MPs.

“I am worried about the Tory party because give or take the odd spasm we have always been seen as pragmatic, sensible, good at our job, sane, reasonable and having the interests of the whole country,” he said. “Now it is beginning to look like a Brexit sect.”

Soames rejected comparisons between his grandfather and Johnson, saying the prime minister has never been regarded as “a diplomat or statesman” and his life experience amounts to “telling a lot of porkies about the European Union in Brussels and then becoming prime minister”.

Q&A Who were the 21 rebel Tories? Show Here is the list of the 21 Conservative MPs who voted with the opposition and against the government to seize control of the parliamentary timetable in order to pave the way for a bill to block a no-deal Brexit. They were then thrown out of the party by prime minister Boris Johnson. Guto Bebb, Aberconwy Richard Benyon, Newbury Steve Brine, Winchester Alistair Burt, North East Bedfordshire Greg Clark, Tunbridge Wells Kenneth Clarke, Rushcliffe David Gauke, South West Hertfordshire Justine Greening, Putney Dominic Grieve, Beaconsfield Sam Gyimah, East Surrey Philip Hammond, Runnymede and Weybridge Stephen Hammond, Wimbledon Richard Harrington, Watford Margot James, Stourbridge Sir Oliver Letwin, West Dorset Anne Milton, Guildford Caroline Nokes, Romsey and Southampton North Antoinette Sandbach, Eddisbury Sir Nicholas Soames, Mid Sussex Rory Stewart, Penrith and The Border Edward Vaizey, Wantage



He singled out Jacob Rees-Mogg, calling his recent actions in the Commons “repulsive” and beneath the leader of the house. Rees-Mogg was criticised by Caroline Lucas for lounging on the benches of the Commons during a debate. “The leader of the house has been spread across three seats, lying out as if that was something very boring for him to listen to tonight,” she said.

Soames called Rees-Mogg an “absolute fraud” who is “a living example of what a moderately cut double-breasted suit and a decent tie can do with an ultra-posh voice and a bit of ginger stuck up his arse”.

He also spoke about his concerns for the future of his party, saying that he feared a schism, with many liberal Conservatives turning their backs on the “very hard-right Tory” version of the party that is taking shape under Johnson.

The former defence minister predicted that further Tory MPs would follow the lead of Jo Johnson, who quit this past week – citing conflict between family loyalty and the public interest – if they were forced to sign up to campaigning for a no-deal Brexit during any general election push.

He also expected hardcore no-deal Brexiters to turn on Johnson if he attempted to push through an arrangement with the EU, by tweaking the withdrawal agreement. “It is a tragedy that we are going to be potentially sunk on the altar of something so fundamentally un-Tory,” he said.