Jacob Rees-Mogg Taken To School By Farmer Angry At Brexit
Jacob Rees-Mogg was given a rude awakening on his GB News show after a farmer disputed his claims Brexit has been good news for British agriculture.
To mark the fourth anniversary of the UK officially leaving the European Union, the Tory MP said on X he wouid be “discussing the great benefits of Brexit” on his programme.
But Rees-Mogg, a former minister, appeared caught off-guard by his guest, farmer David Catt, whose views did not exactly align.
To open, Rees-Mogg asked Catt if he would be “joining me in celebrating the four years since we departed from the EU?”
Catt replied: “No. None whatsoever. It hasn’t benefited British agriculture one iota.”
He went on: “It’s destroyed our ability to export to the EU. We had built massive trade with beef, sheep, lamb, fish, dairy products which now we’re not allowed to sell, we can’t sell to the EU because of the red tape.”
(Watch interview below)
"Brexit hasn't benefited British agriculture one iota"
Jacob Rees-Mogg interviews farmer David Catt hoping to show that Brexit has benefited farming. Instead, Mr Catt explains how Brexit has been a disaster for British farming pic.twitter.com/v3Xj9jlh8x— Farrukh (@implausibleblog) February 1, 2024
The full four-minute interview saw Rees-Mogg try to rebuff the farmer’s pessimism, only for Catt to repeat how quitting the bloc has been bad for business.
Catt explained labour shortages caused by Brexit mean “agriculture and farming is falling off a cliff in Kent here”, adding: “The Garden of England, where I am, apple trees are being grubbed at a far faster rate than ever before.”
When he added farmers are trying to make a go of the fledgling wine-growing industry, Rees-Mogg seized on that as a sign of a “a real opportunity that we have that we couldn’t have in the EU”. But Catt replied: “No businessman puts a barrier between itself and its biggest customer. It just does not happen.”
When Rees-Mogg argued the US was Britain’s biggest customer, not the EU, Catt replied: “Not for food stuffs.”
The consensus on X was that Rees-Mogg had a bit of a nightmare.
Ah yes, Jacob Rees-Mogg, the man who knows more about farming than an actual farmer. https://t.co/SX2O1Xzmhq
— Jonathan Pie (@JonathanPieNews) February 1, 2024
This is the most glorious three minutes of TV I’ve watched in years. Watch @Jacob_Rees_Mogg get his faux aristocratic bottom handed to him on a farmer’s plate.
pic.twitter.com/cHFkUPYMQL— John O’Brennan (@JohnOBrennan2) February 1, 2024
Soviet commissar argues with angry administrator about the realities of tractor production c.1936. The Tory Brexiteers have become what they profess to hate pic.twitter.com/utlttZyNov
— John Harris (@johnharris1969) February 1, 2024
Well done @MrDavidCatt1 for exposing Rees Mogg’s continual gaslighting of the truth.
He is clearly angered by your contribution to the Brexit debate and then cut you off! pic.twitter.com/982lCnOXS7— Liz Webster (@LizWebsterSBF) February 1, 2024
He seems to get angry whenever someone other than himself is speaking. This is a problem that may be unique to this country. We tend to genuflect before someone that has one of those constipated, strangulated accents, and he is used to that, so can't abide it when someone doesn't https://t.co/2gFkJ8dvdM
— nick abbot (@NIAbbot) February 1, 2024