Jacob Rees-Mogg warns the Tories are not right-wing enough

Jacob Rees-Mogg urged the Tories to be more right wing today as he urged Brexiteers to hold ‘steady’ and wait for a better Brexit deal. 

The ringleader of the hardline Tory rebels also said the party should remain a ‘broad church’ that includes Remain supporters.

He even admitted he had never been to chicken restaurant Nandos – but the 49-year-old said he did wish he had been a ‘younger’ father to his six children. 

Ahead of Tuesday’s re-run vote on the Brexit deal, Mr Rees-Mogg told the Telegraph: ‘Steady, boys, steady.’

While calling for Theresa May to adopt more right policies including lower taxes, he rejected Brexit had caused the Tory party to lurch right.

He said: ‘There is no evidence for it. People bandy about these terms of abuse because they think it gives them political advantage.

‘Brexit is as much a Leftwing project as a Right-wing project.

‘Fundamentally it is a question of democracy: should we be ruled by our own voters or should we be ruled by bureaucrats in Brussels?’

Of his own policy ideas, Mr Rees-Mogg said the tax system was ‘extraordinarily cumbersome and is making the country less competitive’.

Of his family life, Mr Rees-Mogg admitted he had never been to chicken restaurant Nandos – but the 49-year-old said he did wish he had been a ‘younger’ father to his six children

The leader of the European Research Group rejected calls for Tory MPs who have tried to soften Brexit to lose their seats.

Former ministers including Dominic Grieve face de-selection votes from their local activists.

Three MPs defected from the Tories to the new Independent Group after facing challenges from the grass roots.

But Mr Rees-Mogg said: ‘The party needs to remain a broad church – it has never been a party of ideological purity.

‘I would not be in favour of a purge.’