Brexit news: Jacob Rees-Mogg WARNS Theresa May over customs union BETRAYAL
GETTY / EPA Jacob Rees-Mogg warned Theresa May over Brexit arrangements and staying in a customs union
Jacob Rees-Mogg also blasted one of the Government’s proposed solutions to the Irish border problem – for Britain to collect import tariffs for Brussels via a “customs partnership”– as “completely cretinous and potty”. And he warned unelected peers trying to scupper Brexit that they risked “burning down” the Lords. Mr Rees-Mogg predicted the PM would withstand pressure from some ministers, MPs and peers to break her vow to take Britain out of the customs union as well as the single market. Speaking at a Westminster meeting staged by the Open Europe think-tank, he stressed that leaving the customs union was an election promise he did not believe Mrs May would break.
AFP Rees-Mogg thinks Theresa May will stand her ground on the customs union promise
I can’t understand why the Government is faffing around with a system that nobody who’s looked at it thinks will work, including the EU. Jacob Rees-Mogg
He said: “We know that she is very dutiful. I would be very surprised if there was any prospect of a U-turn.” The Somerset MP also said retaining customs union membership “would not be delivering on the result of the referendum because it means we are effectively staying within the EU”. He was particularly scornful of the Irish border proposal, calling it “impractical, bureaucratic and about as silly an idea as you can think of”. He added: “I can’t understand why the Government is faffing around with a system that nobody who’s looked at it thinks will work, including the EU.”
And turning to the peers, he cautioned: “Their Lordships are playing with fire and it would be a shame to burn down a historic house.” At today’s Cabinet “war committee” some ministers may raise recent claims No10 is prepared for a climbdown. A debate tomorrow may see rebel Tories join Labour in a symbolic vote to seek a customs union with the European Union. ______________________ COMMENT - JACOB REES-MOGG
EPA Rees-Mogg also slammed the EU's negotiating
THE top Eurocrat, Michel Barnier, asserts that the Commission “needs more clarity from the UK”. Not least in relation to the British border with the Irish Republic. We are accused of being vague yet Mrs May has offered positive solutions to what must surely be the least significant cross-border trading relationship in Europe. Brexiteers are falsely accused of “lacking details”. Yet all British proposals are rejected out of hand with nothing in their place.
Top 10 of Jacob Rees-Mogg’s best Brexit quotes Thu, February 8, 2018 The Conservative MP is known for his upper-class mannerisms and traditionalist views Play slideshow AFP/Getty Images 1 of 10 ‘Civil servants are anti-Brexit’