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Politics

02nd Aug 2022

Jacob Rees-Mogg says he was ‘wrong in the right way’ about post-Brexit queues at Dover

Jack Peat

Nick Ferrari confronted the Brexiteer about comments he made on his show in 2018

Jacob Rees-Mogg was asked to explain comments he made in 2018 about how Brexit would impact Channel crossings on Nick Ferrari’s LBC show this morning.

The arch Brexiteer vowed that after Brexit: “We will maintain a free-flowing border at Dover.

“The delays will not be at Dover, they will be at Calais.”

Four years on, after the Port of Dover was declared a “critical incident” with holidaymakers were stuck in their cars for many hours, Rees-Mogg was challenged on his assurance by the same interviewer.

He said: “I got it wrong for the right reason, if I may put it that way.

“The point I was making was that the only delays would be caused by the French if they decided not to allow British people to pass through freely.”

Campaign group Best for Britain has called on the North Somerset MP to apologise following the admission, saying he should beg the forgiveness of the “thousands of lorry drivers and holidaymakers queuing at Dover” as well as “Great British exporters and importers that have been crippled by Brexit red tape”.

James O’Brien also hit out at the Rees-Mogg on his own LBC show, saying:

“If you are still clinging on to the idea that the minister for Brexit opportunities is anything other than a dissembling fool, a Victorian undertaker cosplay, then it is because you have been convinced that you are inferior.”

Watch the brutal take-down in full below:

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