Rees-Mogg "entitled to his opinion" according to Douglas Ross
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross says he disagrees with Jacob Rees-Mogg after he branded him "a lightweight figure" but that he's "entitled to his opinion"
Last updated 13th Jan 2022
Scottish Conservative leader has told Cool FM that Jacob Rees-Mogg is "entitled to his opinion" after the leader of the House of Commons branded him "a lightweight figure".
But Ross did say he disagrees with Rees-Mogg.
It follows Ross urging Boris Johnson to stand down as Prime Minister amid controversy around Covid rule breaking parties.
Rees-Mogg had dismissed the call.
Ross told us:
"Jacob Rees-Mogg is entitled to his opinion, I'm entitled to disagree with him.
"I'm not going to get into personal attacks
"I disagree with Jacob Rees-Mogg on his characterisation of me, but he's entitled to his opinion."
Scotland Secretary Alister Jack has said he tried to prevent Douglas Ross from calling for the Prime Minister to stand down from his role.
The Scottish Secretary said he also rejected an accusation that the Scottish Tory leader is a "lightweight".
Mr Jack said: "Over the last 48 hours, I have, in a number of conversations with Douglas, asked him to wait until Sue Gray reports.
"She's a serious figure, she's producing a report, my view is we wait until we see the report before we draw any conclusions.
"I would say that Douglas is far from a lightweight. He's a very serious politician, he's a very good adversary for Nicola Sturgeon ... Douglas is a very serious and should be a well-respected politician."
Responding to Alister Jack saying he tried to talk him out of the call ,Ross said:
"Alister Jack also tried to talk me out when I resigned as a Minister.
"I worked closely with Alister when we were in the Scotland office, I continue to work closely with him, at times we agree and at times we disagree but I always respect Alister's views as well."