Jacob Rees-Mogg Scolds PM As He Defends Boris Johnson In Burka Row

Jacob Rees-Mogg has condemned Theresa May for calling on Boris Johnson to apologise over the burka row.

The Tory backbencher said Mrs May was “clearly wrong” as it’s “not the job of the Prime Minister to tell backbenchers what to do”.

Mr Johnson has faced repeated calls to say sorry after comparing Muslim women in burkas to “letterboxes” and “bank robbers”.

He has so far stayed silent, but Mr Rees-Mogg hit back, telling Nigel Farage: “He’s completely entitled to say it and there’s nothing to apologise for”.

Jacob Rees-Mogg spoke to Nigel Farage on Wednesday. Picture: LBC/PA

In the controversial Daily Telegraph article the former Foreign Secretary was making the case for not banning the burka.

Mr Rees-Mogg backed that stance, adding: “It’s not what a free society does.

“It’s something that tends to be done by an oppressive state.”

Nigel asked the MP for North East Somerset: “Is Mrs May right to have asked Boris Johnson to apologise?”

He replied: “No, she’s clearly wrong to have asked him to have apologised. It’s not the job of the Prime Minister to tell backbenchers what to do.

“We are not bound by collective responsibility or that type of discipline and it is the wrong approach to party discipline.

“The Prime Minister is of course entitled to expect ministers to stick to a government line but that does not apply to backbench MPs.”

Watch the interview above.