JRM - more Royalist than the Queen?
By Tony Grew - 15th July 2011
There is no MP from the 2010 intake who has built up a fanbase quite as large as Jacob Rees-Mogg's.
The deeply Tory JRM is a favourite on all sides of the House, and his speech in yesterday's debate on the sovereign grant bill shows why.
He took the House on an eclectic journey through the history of the relationship between the monarch and Parliament.
He was, as Edward Leigh commented, "even more royalist and reactionary than me in the chamber; my hon. Friend reminds me of one of the French courtiers who was plus royaliste que le roi - more royalist than the king - and that is no bad thing".
As usual, several MPs came into the chamber just to hear Rees-Mogg speak.
He began with the 16th century.
"I went a little earlier and looked up the Commons Journal for 1575," he told the House.
"I thank the library for its assistance in helping me to find what I was looking for.
"I was looking for the behaviour of the House towards a Mr Peter Wentworth, a man who represented a Cornish seat and had the temerity to criticise the then sovereign, Elizabeth I. He said that 'none is without fault, no, not our noble Queen'.
"For this 'prepared speech' and 'divers offensive matters touching Her Majesty', he was taken prisoner to the Tower and held there for a month at the insistence of the House of Commons. I must say that I think they knew how to behave in 1575, and it is a model for us today."
A warning to Rupert Murdoch perhaps.
When Euro-sceptic Bill Cash intervened to mention the "secret treaty of Dover in 1670" when Charles II "would not recall Parliament because Louis XIV insisted that we should do what the French and the rest of the Europeans wanted", JRM replied, "I remember the secret treaty of Dover well, although I was not an active participant".
He is clearly a fan of the Queen - here are some of the highlights.
"Her Majesty is our sovereign, full stop. She is one person, indivisible. She is not the trinity - Her Majesty the Queen, Her Majesty Mrs Windsor and Her Majesty the third party of the trinity. It does not work like that. She is one sovereign individual."
"It is often said that Her Majesty is the golden thread that binds our nation together, and the key part of that phrase is the word 'golden'. Her Majesty is not the cotton thread, or the silver thread, or the woollen thread, she is a golden thread that binds the nation together as one unique, great and noble nation."
"We then have the question of scrutiny and the public accounts committee. I make no bones about it, I think it is inelegant, ungallant and improper to look at every biscuit that Her Majesty wishes to buy. I think Her Majesty should have as many biscuits as she likes, and if they are chocolate Bath Olivers rather than Rich Tea, so be it. I just do not think it right for a committee of this House to look into that."
"Let me conclude with the words of Her Majesty on her 21st birthday in South Africa: 'I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.' Mr Evans, God save the Queen."
Deputy speaker Nigel Evans then turned to Labour MP Ian Davidson, a critic of the current financial arrangements for the monarch.
"Follow that, Mr Davidson!"
Mr Davidson: "It is difficult to follow a speech like that because in many ways, it took the biscuit."
Chris Ruane: "Bourbon!"
Mr Davidson: "Of course, as my hon. Friend says, that biscuit would be a Bourbon."
It is fair to say Jacob Rees-Mogg is fast becoming a Commons institution.
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