Jacob Rees-Mogg On Stopping Fight: Nobody Wanted To Punch A Weed Like Me

3 February 2018, 10:25 | Updated: 3 February 2018, 10:29

Jacob Rees-Mogg revealed he stepped in to stop a scuffle involving masked protesters because "Nobody wanted to punch a weed like me".

The popular Conservative MP was speaking in a debate at the University of Western England when demonstrators stormed in with scarves partly covering their faces.

Punches were thrown and Mr Rees-Mogg forced the fighting protesters apart.

And speaking to Andrew Castle on LBC, he said he felt safe as no one wanted to hurt him. He said: "Some people in the audience came and asked the protesters to leave.

"That created a bit of a melee. You had a number of people pushing about and then there was a claim that someone had been punched.

"There were two people that were getting quite close to each other and I put myself in the middle of that because fortunately nobody wanted to punch a weed like me."

Mr Rees-Mogg said he would have been happy to discuss the protesters' grievances, but they didn't seem interested in engaging in dialogue.

He added: "The right of people to protest is an important democratic one and that's what they wanted to do.

"I think it's a pity that they weren't interested in discussing their views and the areas where they disagreed with me.

"But I don't think one should try to stop a peaceful protest."