Jacob Rees-Mogg booted off Tory campaign trail after insulting Grenfell fire victims

JACOB Rees-Mogg was last night booted off the election campaign trail after he insulted Grenfell fire victims.

The Commons leader issued a grovelling apology for saying those trapped in the burning tower should have ignored fire service advice and tried to flee.

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He suggested those who stayed lacked “common sense”.

His remarks were condemned as ­disrespectful, crass and insulting.

Mr Rees-Mogg faced calls to resign, forcing No 10 to say that the Prime Minister still had confidence in him.

In an earlier apology the Tory MP said: “What I meant to say is that I would have also listened to the fire brigade’s advice to stay and wait at the time.

“However, with what we know now and with hindsight I wouldn’t, and I don’t think anyone else would.

'I WAS UNCLEAR'

“I would hate to upset the people of Grenfell if I was unclear in my comments.”

But senior Tory sources said he would be sidelined from the campaign in case he was targeted by rivals.

Mr Rees-Mogg’s remarks came while discussing London Fire Brigade’s stay-put advice issued to those trapped in the 2017 fire, which killed 72 people.

He told LBC: “I think if either of us were in a fire, whatever the fire brigade said, we would leave the burning building. It just seems the common sense thing to do.”

Grenfell United, which represents survivors and the bereaved, had said his words were “beyond disrespectful” and “extremely painful and insulting to bereaved families”.

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Jeremy Corbyn had called on Mr Rees-Mogg to say sorry for the “crass” and “insensitive” comments, asking: “What possesses someone to react to an entirely avoidable tragedy like Grenfell by saying the victims lacked common sense?”

Rapper and singer Stormzy also called the politician “an actual piece of s***” and demanded his resignation.

However, Tory MP Andrew Bridgen defended him. Asked if he thought Mr Rees-Mogg was saying he would have survived because he was clever, he said: “We want very clever people running the country, don’t we?”

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