REES-MOGG DON’T GIVE EU ANOTHER BRASS FARTHING
EUROPEAN Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has been accused of “living in cloud cuckoo land” over his proposals for further EU integration.
Senior Tory backbencher Jacob Rees-Mogg hit out at the Brussels chief yesterday over his plans for closer political union.
And he insisted that Britain should not pay Brussels “a brass farthing” in its withdrawal settlement.
He also said Britain should simply leave its border with Ireland open and dare the EU to impose checks from the other side.
In an interview with radio station LBC, Mr Rees-Mogg also dismissed George Osborne as “a less successful Edward Heath” over his bitterness and bile towards Theresa May.
He compared Mr Osborne to the notorious former prime minister, who never got over being deposed as Tory leader by Margaret Thatcher. Mr Rees-Mogg said: “The sadness of George Osborne is that he is a formidably able man, he served with distinction as chancellor and he has decided, since leaving Parliament, to emulate a rather less successful Edward Heath. “I think this type of bitterness and bile ends up making the person who has that bitterness and bile feel resentful and sad and has no effect on broader politics. His firepower diminishes with every bitter outburst and for such an able man that is something we should be sad about rather than particularly condemn.” In a wide-ranging interview, Mr Rees-Mogg dismissed the idea that he will become Tory leader or even be handed a ministerial role by Mrs May. He said: “That’s not going to happen,” adding: “Nobody serious is saying that.”