Senior Tory Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg has warned Rishi Sunak he must wake up and act or lose the next general election, in an extraordinary attack on his own party.
The Boris Johnson ally attacked Mr Sunak’s government as the most inert since the reign of Henry VI in 1453.
Sir Jacob, who served as business secretary under Liz Truss, compared the current PM to the 15th-Century monarch, saying “since then, we have never had so inert a government – until today”.
“The current government … needs to awake from its catalepsy if it wishes to win the election,” he warned.
Sir Jacob lashed out at the government’s failure to tackle immigration after figures last week showed net migration has soared to a record high of 745,000.
He said mass levels of migration “lets down an electorate that has given repeated mandates to get the numbers under control” and “could cost the Tory Party the next election”.
The figures prompted a furious row within the party, with sacked former home secretary Suella Braverman saying they were a “slap in the face” for voters.
The right-wing MP told GB News that Ms Braverman had a plan to bring the level of legal migration under control that the government should embrace.
That plan included closing down the graduate visa route, restricting the number of dependents migrants can bring to the UK and prioritising overseas students applying for Russell Group universities. It also proposed raising the salary threshold for migrants to £40,000.
“James Cleverley, the current home secretary, says he is still reviewing measures to curb migration but I don’t think he needs to look much further than his predecessor’s plan,” Sir Jacob said.
He added: “Henry VI, who became monarch in 1422, suffered from catatonic inertia for 18 months, beginning in the middle of 1453.
“Since then, we’ve never had so inert a government – until today.
“The current government seems similarly inert and needs to awake from its catalepsy if it wishes to win the election.”
Sir Jacob piled on the pressure as Mr Sunak faces a growing revolt among backbenchers over the migration figures.
The PM has warned immigration levels are “too high” and promised action, with No10 promising to leave “no stone unturned”.
But MPs and ministers have urged Mr Sunak to go further. Immigration minister Robert Jenrick – an ally of Ms Braverman – is pushing for a cap on the number of NHS and social care visas that are issued, along with a ban on foreign care workers bringing dependants to the UK.
Senior Tories including former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith have backed Mr Jenrick’s plan, which is being resisted by some in the cabinet due to the potential impact on the NHS. Others in the cabinet are keen to see the details of the proposals, with one cabinet source telling The Independent the 745,000 figure was “beyond unsustainable”.
And business secretary Kemi Badenoch has said she is pushing the PM for “much, much tougher” measures.
