Jacob Rees-Mogg has been chased and heckled by protesters in Birmingham where the Conservative Party conference is getting under way. The Business Secretary faced a hostile reception as he crossed Victoria Square in the city centre, where hundreds of demonstrators had gathered to vent their anger at the Government. Escorted by several police officers, Mr Rees-Mogg was pursued by a loudly booing and jeering crowd, some of whom shouted “Tory scum”, as he headed towards his party’s annual gathering at the nearby International Convention Centre. Mr Rees-Mogg played down the protests as a “fact of democracy”.