Former shadow home secretary Ann Widdecombe left the Conservative Party and joined the Brexit Party last week with frustrations over the Brexit process. The former Conservative MP said she would stand for Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party in the European elections at the end of May which Britain will be forced to take part in if the Prime Minister cannot get a deal through the Commons by then. Speaking on LBC, chair of the Conservative Party’s eurosceptic European Research Group, Jacob Rees-Mogg said he did not “blame” Ms Widdecombe for joining the Brexit Party.

Asked how he felt about the defection, Mr Rees-Mogg said: “Very sad, but I don’t blame her.”

Ferrari stepped in arguing if Mr Rees-Mogg did “not blame” Ms Widdecombe for leaving, why did he not follow her.

The Conservative MP replied: “Because I am a Tory to my fingertips. She has come to a different decision.

“I think abandoning the Conservative Party at this stage is completely the wrong thing to do. I think we need to get the Tory party back to what it needs to do which is delivering Brexit and perhaps occasionally, saying a Conservative thing.

Very sad, but I don’t blame her

Jacob Rees-Mogg

“Not like the Chancellor of the Exchequer, saying having high taxes and having people dislike them is a good thing. That’s not Conservative policy at all”.

He added: “The issue is really how do you think the country’s interest is best served.

“The Conservative Party is a means to an end, it is about ensuring the country is well governed and the basis on which it is governed is sensible. I think splitting the Conservative Party makes the good government of the country less likely.

“Therefore I have an intrinsic loyalty to the Conservative Party and want to make it work.

“No, it is not putting party ahead of country, it is recognising the interests of the country needs a strong Conservative Party. Yes, I am sad Ann Widdecombe has left, she is a formidable, capable campaigner and a wonderful woman.”

Last week, Ms Widdecombe wrote in The Daily Express: “Parliament is an absolute parody, we are an international laughing stock and we are getting nowhere so the public needs to send a very clear message and that is we expect the vote to be respected so just get on with the job of getting us out of the EU.

“If I am elected when I arrive in Brussels my message to [Jean-Claude] Juncker and company will be very simple, very loud and very clear: Nous allons [we go].”

Nigel Farage tweeted: “I welcome Ann Widdecombe as our lead candidate in the South West, the Brexit Party is a stronger alliance as a result. This is great news.”

The Government has been locked in Brexit negotiations with the Labour Party with little progress made since MPs returned from their Easter break.

Mr Farage’s Brexit Party last week announced a number of candidates who will run for the party in the European vote and have taken the lead in the polls.

A YouGov poll taken between April 23-26 of 5412 people in the UK, found the Brexit Party leading the European Parliament elections with 28 percent of the vote.

The Labour Party remain on 22 percent, while the Conservatives fell to 13 percent.

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