With A Posh Politician in New York.

As much of June and July basked under a prolonged heatwave, I have wondered just how many school pupils confined in their classrooms across the land had daydreamed of the beach with gently-lapping waves of the turquoise ocean giving a relaxing background rhythm to the locality. Or the splashing of the cool waters of an outdoor swimming pool with sunshine rays making constant movement on the pool floor while the air above it carries a light pungency of chlorine. Nearby, families sunbathed, children running to and fro, a beach ball flies through the air, and the teacher suddenly raises her voice, shattering the dream into a thousand irretrievable pieces.

At last August arrives, all schools have broken up, and with it, the cool wet weather of a typical British Summer, with winds whipping up the grey sea into turbulence as its large waves hits the wall supporting the esplanade. From time to time a quick shower causes a forest of umbrellas to suddenly emerge from the crowd, but despite of all this, not a single school uniform, or equivalent, can be seen among the thousands of youngsters who passes along the esplanade throughout the day. Further inland, parents rack their brains in their attempts to try to keep their offspring entertained during the school holidays while the blustery drizzle continues to decorate the outside of the window panes with tiny raindrops.

Therefore was I astounded when a photo of Conservative backbench politician Jacob Rees-Mogg appeared in the Daily Mail Online posing with his wife Helena and what appears to be his two eldest children, Peter and Mary.

Jacob with wife Helena and children Peter and Mary.

Perhaps with a remarkable adult resemblance of the classic Beano comic character, Walter the Softy, the spectacle-wearing lad who has always been a contemporary of Dennis the Menace and Gnasher, here poses the politician with part of his family at the lookout of the Empire State Building in New York during their Summer vacation.   

Just as I stood at exactly the same spot twenty years earlier in 1998, just a few months before meeting my future wife Alex. However, Rees-Mogg's New York is somewhat different to the New York of my day. What I saw back then, as I faced south towards Downtown, were the original twin towers of the World Trade Center. These were skyscrapers resembling gigantic cigarette lighters which dominated the skyline, especially from the area of the Hudson River surrounding the Statue of Liberty. I have a mix of both gladness and regret when it comes to the World Trade Center. Gladness that I visited the rooftop observation deck on the South Tower back in 1978, but regretting not visiting the same location twenty years later in 1998. Instead, I decided on the Empire State Building, one venue I had never set foot on before then. Indeed, if only I had bothered to re-visit the World Trade Center in 1998 in addition to the Empire State Building. It would have been a way of saying a final goodbye before the 9/11 disaster in the year 2001.

Instead, what Jacob Rees-Mogg saw close to the same location was the new version of the World Trade Center, a single skyscraper of the same height as the original towers. However, if our present set of circumstances is anything to go by, from now on it remains unlikely that I would ever set foot again in New York, or for that matter, at any overseas destination, for the rest of our lives. Alex's health would not be able to take it and the resulting strain would be too much, ruining both our holiday or getaway.

Yet I can't help look at the above photograph with amazement. What I have read, it was around thirty degrees Celsius on that day, yet father and son are both dressed up in suit and tie - and it was neither a business or school trip, but a summer vacation. I'll be honest here, I have wondered what went through the boy's mind when the family arose for breakfast at their hotel. I can think of one of two types of tongue-in-cheek conversation having taken place that morning:

Dennis, Gnasher and Walter

Conversation A

Helena: Good morning. A new day of our summer holiday! I have been checking on the Internet, and there is a Six Flags Theme Park with Fun Fair, including spinners and gutsy roller-coasters, about a ninety minute drive from here, on the road to Philadelphia. Or there is a beach, accessible from here on the subway. What do you think?

Peter (eldest son): Fun Fair? Ugh, such money-wasting venues are for commoners, plebs with no education or culture. No, I'm not interested in these stupid spinners or roller coasters! Nor the beach either, coming to think of it! What an insult to my English upbringing such suggestions are!

Jacob (taking his wife aside then whispers): Darling, are you out of your mind?

Helena (vigorously shaking her head and whispers): Shh! Not in front of the children.

Helena (re-entering the bedroom): Where would you like to visit instead?

Peter: There is the Basilica of St Patrick, the main Roman Catholic church of New York. Please, Mum, I want to go there to admire its architecture. Then there is the Church of the Trinity in Wall Street. Not to forget St Peter's Roman Catholic Church, and if we still have any time left, there is St Thomas C. of E. to admire as well.

Mary (daughter): Peter is right. I don't care for those trashy parks either. I'm a girl of class.

Peter: And I want to wear my shirt and tie. Even if it's hot outside, I want to visit these churches with respect.

Jacob: My mind is made up. I would like to go up the Empire State Building, and if there is time, we'll visit some of the churches Peter had suggested, leaving the rest of them for tomorrow.

Helena, Peter, Mary, in unison: That is a brilliant idea!

Jacob: Dress up, and you Peter, put on your tie. We must be the best representatives of our country.

Conversation B

Peter: Dad! Dad! Last night, just before going to bed, I found the Six Flags Theme Park, which is about ninety minutes drive away. It looks exciting. Spinners and gutsy roller coasters! Can we go?

Jacob: No, absolutely not! Those venues are for commoners who have no more sense than that of mere indulgence.

Peter: But Dad, we're on holiday. My classmates have posted on Facebook of their trip to Chessington Theme Park. They had a lot of fun. They even got wet on a couple of water rides. Other friends of mine have posted themselves bathing in the Mediterranean. None of them wore ties, only tee-shirts and open neck Hawaii-type casuals. They were even topless on the beach. Yet we all attend the same school.

Jacob: Don't argue with me, son. Today, after visiting the Empire State Building, we will also be visiting the Basilica of St Patrick, followed by the Church of the Trinity.

Peter: Visiting churches? How boring!

Jacob: You do as you're told! Now do up your shirt button and put on your tie!

Peter: Aw, Dad. It's hot outside.

Jacob: Look, I'm wearing a tie. It's just as hot for me outside as it is for you. But we're English. We are representatives of Her Majesty the Queen in a foreign country. It's about time you starched your upper lip!

Jacob (downstairs at the breakfast table): Now let's say grace before breakfast. Dear Lord, for what we are about to receive, may to the Lord we be truly thankful. Amen.

Helena, Peter, Mary, in unison: Amen.

Jacob (to the waiter): I don't like bacon. Please remove the portion from my plate this instant and replace with two more sausages. Thank you.

The original World Trade Center, taken 1998.

Those two conversations were of course, tongue-in-cheek. But among those who voted to leave the European Union in 2016, as a politician, he has risen to prominence and popularity among his followers. As one friend wrote in Facebook, announcing Rees-Mogg as our Prime Minister-in-waiting, I should present myself to him fully dressed in suit and tie. Of course, that too was tongue-in-cheek, but I do get his gist.

But in real life, I would like to meet Jacob Ree-Mogg in person, if he isn't too snobby being at Starbucks, Costa Coffee, or even in a quiet pub. And who knows, I have a hint that he would willingly book a slot for us to meet, even if its a month, two months or later still due to his busy schedule. I have that hint that he would be happy to talk to me, despite how I might feel towards him. It is a matter of us both attending the same church. Like one of our Elders and I meeting at Starbucks approximately every three months for a good chat, including giving him advice as well as receiving edification. His humbleness as an Elder willingly meeting with a retired window cleaner old enough to be his father is worthy of commendation. But this involves attending the same church.

But with Jacob Rees-Mogg it would be most unlikely, even if our different churches are in the same town. Being a devoted Catholic, he would be as much uncomfortable in my Protestant-based church as I would be in his. As so, it remains wishful thinking.

But supposing Rees-Mogg and I did meet, facing each other at the coffee table. Would I feel any hostility towards him? Quite unlikely, but rather filled with curiosity on why England as a sovereign state is so important to him. Also I would ask him whether, once out of the EU, Britain would eventually develop a desire to convert every British Commonwealth nation back into a colony and reinstate the Empire, even if this would take up to a generation. I would be curious whether he really has feelings of xenophobia, which would also include asking whether he would sanction the closing of the Channel Tunnel. Also I'm interested whether he is devoted to supernatural Creation as recorded in Genesis, or is he a devotee of Charles Darwin. If he favours the latter, does this mean then that he believes in racial and ethnic superiority, not unlike that of the Nazis? But equally important is why does he feel the need to pray to the Virgin Mary to intercede for him if Jesus Christ has already atoned for his sins and salvation is readily available for all believers?

Furthermore, I would encourage him to quit trying to get right with God by practicing Roman Catholic customs, and believe that God has already made peace with him the day Jesus died on the Cross, was buried, and on the third day rose again from the dead. Thus atonement was made and fully completed. So there is no need for a priest to intercede. In fact, as a true believer, we are both priests, tasked with the privilege of being lights of our society, to shine as bright stars for God in this dark world.

Up to recently, Jacob Rees-Mogg has always been an obnoxious sort of person, to my mind. But lately, the more I think about him, and especially after looking at his holiday snap in New York, the more my dislike metamorphs into that of fascination and astonishment on why the English have so idolised him to the point of yearning for him to lead our country as Prime Minister.