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Jacob Rees-Mogg savages 'wailing banshee' Mark Carney after house prices Brexit warning

Emilio Casalicchio

2 min read

Bank of England governor Mark Carney is a “wailing banshee” whose warnings about Brexit cannot be taken seriously, according to Jacob Rees-Mogg.


The leading Tory Brexiteer said the top economist - who last week warned Cabinet that house prices could plummet by more than a third under a no-deal Brexit - was “quite hysterical” about the UK’s departure from the bloc.

Mr Rees-Mogg - who chairs the European Research Group of pro-Brexit Tory MPs - told LBC Radio: "That was suggested by the governor of the Bank of England, who is quite hysterical about Brexit and can’t be taken seriously..

“He’s a political apparatchik and has taken the governorship of the Bank of England from one where the odd movement of the eyebrows was influencing markets to one where he's a wailing banshee.”

The North East Somerset MP added: “I don’t think it’s at all distinguished.”

His comments came after fellow Brexiteer and Cabinet minister Michael Gove said Mr Carney was “truly independent” and a “first-rate public servant who’s doing an excellent job”.

In an interview with the BBC yesterday, Mr Gove also said the Brexit deal the Government strikes with Brussels could be altered by a future prime minister.

The comment was expected to rally pro-Brexit Tory backbenchers who are dissatisfied with the Chequers plan Theresa May has put to the European Union.

But Mr Rees-Mogg dismissed the idea, saying: "Michael Gove's suggestion that you have an agreement now and you re-open it immediately afterwards is something that nobody is going to have any appetite for."

Pro-EU campaigners fighting for another Brexit referendum were also unimpressed - arguing the Chequers plan “could be unstitched as soon as the Prime Minister is dumped by the Conservative party”.

Best for Britain CEO Eloise Todd told PoliticsHome: “MPs should not trust the promises the Government are giving right now they could only last only a couple of weeks.”

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