Awkward moment Jacob Rees Mogg is schooled by farmer on realities of Brexit

Jacob Rees-Mogg, once the minister for Brexit opportunities, is still struggling to wrap his head around the realities of the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union four years ago this month, as he’s now been properly educated on its impact on farmers during an interview on his GB News show on Wednesday.

His conversation with David Catt, a farmer and wholesaler, didn’t exactly get off to the best start, as when Mr Rees-Mogg asked his guest if he would join him in celebrating the four-year anniversary of Brexit, he replied with a very frank “no, none whatsoever”.

Oh dear.

Mr Catt continued: “It hasn’t benefitted British agriculture one iota. In fact, it’s damaged us, 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 can’t sell to the EU because of the red tape, and we’ve got new checks coming in tomorrow, which have been deferred five times.”

As the two went back and forth on Brexit, Mr Rees-Mogg – the MP for North East Somerset – argued “a protected market for EU agricultural produce” has been “hugely to the disadvantage of British consumers”.

He added: “We’ve had higher prices because we have been a captive market for the EU, and we can be more competitive, and our farmers can be more competitive, and as we open up trade deals with other countries, there’s a chance for you to export to them.”

However, Mr Catt replied: “Inside the EU we had the protections of the [Common Agricultural Policy], which was a food policy. Outside of the EU, we have no governmental food policies.

“The CAP guaranteed a food supply at a known cost over the last 30 or 40 years, because it guaranteed supply. We are now in a situation in this country where agriculture and farming has falling off a cliff.”

He went on to add: “No businessman puts a barrier between itself and its biggest customer.”

This prompted Mr Rees-Mogg to claim: “Our biggest single trading partner is the United States, not the EU – not any individual country in the EU.”

But Mr Catt quickly responded: “Not for foodstuffs.”

Mr Rees-Mogg eventually cut off Mr Catt to chat to his next guest, but the whole interaction has seen the Brexiteer rinsed by Twitter/X users online:

Mr Catt also took to the social media platform to give his take on the interview, claiming that “every answer that he gave me was irrelevant to the conversation”.

“He invited me on for a discussion on a topic that he never directly gave facts for. He does not like the truth or reality, obviously,” he wrote.

In another tweet, the farmer said the politician “cut me off because he was [losing]” and challenged the Tory to a “home return match on my turf”.

It’s not the first time Mr Rees-Mogg’s unwavering defence of Brexit has sparked ridicule, as in May last year he claimed the UK’s decision to leave the EU stopped Putin’s Russia from succeeding in Ukraine.

Yes, really.

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