Jacob Rees-Mogg tells Andrew Marr to 'get perspective' over his father's lockdown death

Jacob Rees-Mogg has said people "need to get perspective" after Andrew Marr spoke of his "intense anger" over his father's death which happened at the same time as the alleged Downing Street parties.

Yesterday, Boris Johnson apologised to parliament for the rule-breaking that took place while the UK was under Covid lockdown restrictions.

After this, Marr discussed the matter on his LBC show with the Brexit opportunities minister where he brought up the fact that the Tory MP dismissed the political scandal as "fluff."

The broadcaster then detailed how the burial of his father - which many of his family members couldn't attend - happened in the same week as one of the parties.

“I buried my father on the week that one of those parties took place, and it was a party.

“And he was an elder of the Church of Scotland – that church was locked and barred. We had a small gathering, most of the family weren’t there.

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“The other parishioners that he would have loved to be there weren’t allowed to be there because we followed the rules, and I felt intensely angry about that – and I do not regard this as fluff.”

Despite Marr sharing his personal story with his point, Rees-Mogg failed to acknowledge it in his response.

“What is happening now two years on against what’s going on in Ukraine, what is going on with the cost of living crisis, one has to get a sense of perspective," he replied.

“What is going on in Ukraine is fundamental to the security of the Western world.

"And you are comparing this to a fine issued for something that happened two years ago."

“I think we need to look at what is fundamental to the security of our nation and the security of the Western world," the minister added.

But Marr continued to push Rees-Mogg on his Partygate comments, again mentioning his personal experience and called the term "fluff" which the Tory MP used as "quite offensive."

“I’m really sorry but thinking about what happened to my family, and I only use that because it happened to so many others up and down the country ... we find, I would say, that word fluff quite offensive," Marr said.

This is when Rees-Mogg remained firm on his position, where he told Marr "we need a sense of perspective."

“I still think that in comparison with the war in Ukraine … a fine for something that happened two years ago is not the most pressing political matter. The Daily Mail headline said ‘don’t forget there’s a war on’ and this is something we have to remember – we need a sense of perspective”.

It's not the first time Rees-Mogg has brushed off the Partygate scandal, as he previously described it as "disproportionate" and "not serious politics" when he appeared on the Telegraph's Choppers Politics podcastlast month.

The comments from Rees-Mogg come ahead of an MP vote on Thursday to decide whether Johnson should be investigated for misleading parliament.

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