Boris Johnson has insisted that Jacob Rees-Mogg is in "very good health" as speculation continues to mount over his whereabouts in the general election campaign.
The Prime Minister addressed the noted absence of Mr Rees-Mogg, who has taken a low-profile in the campaign ever since he drew criticism over comments he made about the victims of the Grenfell tower disaster.
Mr Rees-Mogg, who is seeking re-election as the Tory MP for North East Somerset, was even absent from the Tory manifesto launch last weekend following his remarks that the Grenfell tower victims lacked “common sense” in following orders from the fire brigade to stay put inside the burning building.
The leader of the House of Commons later apologised for the comments, which Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn
At a press conference in London today, jointly hosted by Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, one journalist asked whether it was "all over" for Mr Rees-Mogg.
The Prime Minister replied: "Any further commentary about that would be rightly characterised as me being overly confident about this election, measuring up the curtains. This is going to be a very closely fought election and we are fighting for ever vote.
"Jacob Rees-Mogg and the rest of the Cabinet to the best of my knowledge are in very good health and fighting very hard right now for re-election."
Earlier this month Mr Rees-Mogg said the tragedy, which killed 72 people, came about as a result of the inflammable cladding around the tower but also because residents followed orders from the London fire brigade to “stay put”.
Mr Rees-Mogg told LBC Radio: “The more one’s read over the weekend about the report and about the chances of people surviving, if you just ignore what you’re told and leave you are so much safer.
“And 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. And it is such a tragedy that that didn’t happen.”
Journalists around the country have been searching for the North East Somerset Tory candidate over the past few weeks but to no avail - although he has put out occasional messages with generic party messages.
Mr Rees-Mogg later apologised for the comments, telling the London Evening Standard: "I profoundly apologise.
"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.What’s so sad is that the advice given overrides common sense because everybody would want to leave a burning building.
"I would hate to upset the people of Grenfell if I was unclear in my comments. With hindsight and after reading the report no one would follow that advice. That’s the great tragedy.”
The Grenfell tower tragedy happened in June 2017 after a fire broke out in one of the flat in the Grenfell Tower in North Kensington. It later spread through the rest of the building, which was covered in a type of cladding that was later blamed for accelerating the pace of the fire. Seventy-two people died.
For the latest news in and around Bristol, check back on Bristol Live's homepage.
