Jacob Rees-Mogg has listed three “huge” benefits from the UK’s departure from the EU.
During an interview on Sky News’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme, the Conservative former Cabinet minister was asked for Brexit wins to put to the ardent Remainer later in the show.
The former Brexit opportunities minister said the UK had saved £191billion by not being part of the EU’s Covid recovery fund, struck a free trade deal with Australia, and was able to show “global leadership” on Ukraine.
In a swipe at Tony Blair’s former spin doctor, Mr Rees-Mogg added that it also means Britain now longer has to “do what we’re told by Alastair Campbell’s mates”.
He said: “We’ve saved £191billion by not being in the EU for its Covid recovery fund. That would have been our share of the EU’s recovery fund.
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“We’ve got a free trade deal with Australia that will be much better than the forecasts predict.
“We were able to show global leadership over Ukraine. Putin would probably have invaded Ukraine successfully if the UK had been bound in by the requirement of sincere cooperation and had to follow a Franco-German line in dealing with Russia, which is what we did in 2014.
“So those are three huge benefits. The first one, a cash benefit to British taxpayers.
“Above all of this we’ve got democracy so we can decide how we’re governed rather than having to do what we’re told by Alastair Campbell’s mates.”
In response to Mr Rees-Mogg’s comments, Mr Campbell claimed the senior Conservative MP did not have a “single” Brexit benefit.
He also claimed that Brexit is “going very badly wrong”.
Mr Campbell said: “On Ukraine, I would definitely say the UK has done a good job in relation to Ukraine, but that has nothing to do with us being outside the EU.
“The Australian trade deal and all the other trade deals they’ve done are either cut and paste from what we had with the EU or they’re adding a minuscule amount in the long-term to our trade which is meanwhile being absolutely battered.”
He added: “The whole thing about sovereignty was a myth because the sovereignty always lay in the UK Parliament to pool some of that sovereignty with other nations.”
