Jacob Rees-Mogg claims ‘civil servants are anti-Brexit’
The leading Brexiteer said any deal which kept Britain in the EU customs union would be unacceptable and economic modelling suggesting the UK would be worse off outside was “clearly politically influenced”. His intervention came as Downing Street insisted the Prime Minister was adamant on leaving the customs union. A Number 10 source said: “Let’s put this to rest now. We are leaving the customs union. We must be able to sign trade deals with the rest of the world.” Mr Rees-Mogg, chairman of the influential European Research Group of Eurosceptic Tory MPs, said: “We need to be free to do deals with the rest of the world.
We need to be free to do deals with the rest of the world Jacob Rees-Mogg
“We must be out of the protectionist common external tariff which mainly protects inefficient EU industries at a cost to British consumers.” He also repeated his controversial House of Commons claim that he heard a pro-EU think tank boss saying Treasury officials had deliberately created an economic model to show anything other than staying in the customs union was “bad”. On Friday, Brexit Minister Steve Baker apologised to MPs for saying Mr Rees-Mogg’s account of the remarks by Charles Grant, head of the Centre for European Reform, was “essentially correct”, after an audio recording of the meeting where Mr Baker had been speaking emerged. But Mr Rees-Mogg says he stands by his original claim.
Shock LIVE pics as Jacob Rees-Mogg confronts masked men Fri, February 2, 2018 Jacob Rees-Mogg confronts masked men as Bristol University event descends into CHAOS Play slideshow TWITTER/CHLOEKAYEX 1 of 5 The moment Jacob Rees-Mogg is confronted by a masked man
He said: “Charles Grant has been saying that the Treasury is determined to keep us in the customs union, that it was ‘newly emboldened’ and that forecasts went along with that. The Treasury has form on this. “The former chancellor George Osborne set up the Office For Budget Responsibility precisely because he didn’t trust the way the Treasury had been forecasting under Gordon Brown. Now it seems the same thing is happening again. “Since the referendum, the Treasury has gone back to making forecasts. So yes, I do think they are fiddling the figures. “First we have the CBI calling for us to remain in the customs union. Then we have Philip Hammond giving a speech in Davos calling for the softest Brexit possible. Then comes leaked Brexit impact assessments saying not remaining in the customs union would be a disaster. “There’s a pattern here which looks decidedly like an orchestrated campaign to undermine the Prime Minister and Brexit policy.”
GETTTY Jacob Rees-Mogg accused civil servants of 'fiddling the figures'
Mr Grant has rejected Mr Rees-Mogg’s account of his comments. Meanwhile the Brexit “war” cabinet meets on Wednesday and Thursday in a final, potentially explosive, bid to thrash out Britain’s preferred end state. Chancellor Philip Hammond, Home Secretary Amber Rudd and Business Secretary Greg Clark want a new customs union to limit the trade loss with Europe. But Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Environment Secretary Michael Gove and Trade Secretary Liam Fox are against the move that would prevent Britain from striking deals with non-EU countries. Once a consensus has been reached, it is understood Theresa May will deliver another landmark Brexit speech, dubbed “Lancaster House Mark II” by insiders – a reference to her original speech outlining her 12-point plan for Britain’s EU exit.
GETTY Boris Johnson is against a new customs union