Jacob Rees-Mogg Disputes Braverman's Definition of Englishness

Jacob Rees-Mogg, a former Cabinet minister, has criticized his former colleague Suella Braverman's recent remarks on English identity, describing her definition as 'ridiculous narrowness.' Braverman, who defected to Reform UK after serving as home secretary in the previous Conservative government, suggested on BBC's Question Time that individuals of British Asian heritage, like herself, cannot be English due to their family's background.

Braverman stated she is "British of Asian ethnicity" rather than English. This stance has drawn criticism, including from former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who warned against making nationality a "DNA test." Rees-Mogg echoed these sentiments at a fringe event during the Conservative conference in Birmingham.

"I think Suella Braverman has said that it's five generations to be English," Rees-Mogg remarked. "Well, on that basis, I am not English. Now, if I'm not English, I think there aren't many people who are!"

Rees-Mogg argued that Englishness should be open to anyone born in the country, regardless of their parents' origins. "Come here and you get a British passport and you want to be English, I think it is open to you," he said. "If you are born here and you want to be English, wherever your parents came from, it is open to you. We should encourage that."

He also noted that many residents in England consider Englishness and Britishness to be synonymous. However, Rees-Mogg expressed reservations about multiculturalism, stating, "I don't want people to be here and carry on being foreign... I don't like that element of multi-culturalism, I think it is a mistake that undermines the unity of the nation."

Speaking on the rise of the 'New Right,' Rees-Mogg voiced concerns about ethno-nationalism, calling it "a polite way of saying racism" and an "unpleasant emergence in British public life." He attributed this trend to long-standing government failures, citing perceived discrimination against young white men in favor of those arriving by boat.

Braverman and Robert Jenrick, another former Conservative MP who defected to Reform UK, have been subjects of Rees-Mogg's critique. Rees-Mogg questioned Jenrick's economic policies as Reform's Treasury spokesman, suggesting they resembled those of the David Cameron era and were "basically re-hashed Left-wingery."