"Who's this 'us'?"
Jacob-Rees Mogg has faced ridicule over a comment he made slamming the government’s Energy Bill, which appears to have back-fired.
Referencing back to a post on his GB News programme, Jacob’s Moggologue, in which he explained why he wouldn’t be supporting the government’s Energy Bill, Mogg wrote on X: “Cheap energy drives growth and prosperity, the Energy Bill will make us cold and poor.”
To which social media users leaped on his comment to tell the Tory MP that it sounded much like the state his party had left the country in already over the last decade.
One X user wrote: “Somehow when you put “Conservatives” it autocorrected to “Energy Bill””.
Whilst another commented: “This government of the last 13 years have left Britain cold, hungry and poor, with infrastructure crumbling around us.”
Others grappled with the use of the word ‘us’, failing to relate to the MP, who’s suggested worth is predicted at well over £100 million. With someone asking: “Who’s this ‘us’? You won’t be poor on £82k a year, you’ll probably just put on expenses.”
Since going through a number of updates and amendments, the government’s Energy Bill has entering its third and final reading in the House of Commons this week.
The Bill will underpin the management and regulation of the UK’s energy sector for net zero, and has caused tension and division within the Tory Party from both sides.
Rishi Sunak faced an angry backbench rebellion from anti-net zero MPs on Tuesday evening, as senior Tory MPs, including Jacob Rees-Mogg, blasted the bill as ‘un-conservative’.
Mogg joined 10 Tory MPs who voted against the bill, as well as two former Tory independents. Whilst 62 Tory MPs did not vote.
Hannah Davenport is news reporter at Left Foot Forward, focusing on trade unions and environmental issues
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