Jacob Rees-Mogg was the guest of honour at the IEA’s Christmas bash last night, with a speech tailored to a home crowd. The Leader of the House entered into the Christmas panto spirit, asking the audience via call and response whether they’d like a low tax, low regulation recovery, or one of higher taxes and higher regulations. No prizes for guessing which the free marketeer crowd opted for…

The highlight of the speech was Rees-Mogg’s dig at the ongoing furore surrounding No. 10’s supposed Christmas party in 2020, telling the audience:

“I see we’re all here obeying regulations, aren’t we? And this party is not going to be investigated by the police in a year’s time. You are all very carefully socially distanced – we have moved, I am pleased to tell you, back to the Imperial system: I notice you are all two inches away from eachother which is, as I understand it, what regulations require.”

His speech was followed by a performance from Dominic Frisbee, ably duetted by Mark Littlewood, meaning Guido got to see Jacob Rees-Mogg’s reaction to his classic song “I’m going to marry Gary”…