Jacob Rees-Mogg will be joining GB News with his own television show this year, the Daily Express understands. The former Brexit minister will be joining the start-up broadcaster in the coming months, sources inside the channel have said, making him the third sitting MP to have their own show. Esther McVey and Dehenna Davison both present shows on the channel already.
Mr Rees-Mogg was recently interviewed by GB News’ Tom Harwood, sitting down with the political commentator earlier this month.
The interview saw the former Brexit minister claim the Government was forced to overlook mistakes made by the Bank of England during the Summer.
Mr Rees-Mogg said: “Mistakes are always made as it’s part of the human condition to make mistakes. Perfection is not within the human gift.
“There was a combination of circumstances that meant that the financial statement in late September 2022 had consequences that led to the end of that Government pretty quickly.
“It coincided with the Bank of England failing to raise interest rates enough and being slow in dealing with the inflationary problem.”
MPs have been facing mounting pressure in recent weeks over the amount of money they accept from outside jobs, including media appearances and hosting their own TV shows.
Members of Parliament have collectively earned £17.1million on top of their salaries since the last election in 2019, with around two-thirds of the money going to just 20 MPs.
The figures, revealed in Sky News and Tortoise Media’s Westminster Accounts, found that the majority of the extra earnings went to Conservative politicians – a total of £15.2million.
Meanwhile, Labour MPs earned an additional £1.2million.
All MPs are paid a base salary of £84,144.
Labour’s shadow foreign secretary David Lammy, who presents a show on LBC, topped his party’s list for outside earnings with additional earnings of £202,599.
Mr Lammy, who has declared income from more than 40 different sources – the most of any MP on Sky’s list – received more than £87,000 for a radio programme on LBC.
Former work and pensions secretary Esther McVey has been contributing to GB News since it launched in June 2021.
She was found to have broken anti-lobbying rules when she joined the broadcaster because she had taken the job without applying for the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA)’s approval.
ACOBA chair Eric Pickles wrote to Cabinet Office minister Steve Barclay about the issue, saying that “the ministerial code is clear that an application is needed for all outside roles”.
Ms McVey said that she did not think she needed to contact the committee when she first joined GB News, saying: “Clearly, anyone can see that my role does not draw on any privileged information from my time as a minister”.
But in his response, Lord Pickles said Ms McVey’s approach was “not in keeping” with the business appointment rules, which he said “exist to protect the integrity of Government”.
Mr Rees-Mogg has been contacted for comment.
