Jacob Rees-Mogg takes swipe at Alastair Campbell as he lists three 'huge' Brexit wins
"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."
Jacob Rees-Mogg lists three 'huge' Brexit benefits
Jacob Rees-Mogg has listed three "huge" benefits from the UK's departure from the EU.
During an interview on Sky's Sophy Ridge On Sunday programme, the Conservative former Cabinet minister was asked for Brexit wins to put to Alastair Campbell 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 Brexit also means Britain no 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 co-operation and had to follow a Franco-German line in dealing with Russia, which is what we did in 2014.
"I think the leadership shown by Boris Johnson, which he could only do because he was not bound by sincere co-operation, ensured that a coalition was set up that made it impossible for Putin to succeed.
"So those are three huge benefits. The first one is a cash benefit to British taxpayers."
Mr Rees-Mogg added: "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."
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In response to Mr Rees-Mogg's comments, Mr Campbell claimed the senior Conservative MP did not have a "single" Brexit benefit.
The ardent Remainer also insisted 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."