1 March 2018updated 24 Jun 2021 12:25pm

Jacob Rees-Mogg caught out for lying about Jeremy Corbyn on live TV

The Tory MP accused him of voting against the Good Friday Agreement. He didn’t.

Edwardian vampire prince of Brexiteers Jacob Rees-Mogg took a break from his permanent residence at the BBC to do a slot on Channel 4 discussing the Irish border issue yesterday evening.

During a live interview with presenter Jon Snow, Rees-Mogg asserted that Jeremy Corbyn voted against the Good Friday agreement, saying:

“I’m unaware of any Brexiteer who is in favour of abandoning the Good Friday Agreement – it was Jeremy Corbyn, incidentally, who voted against the Good Friday Agreement when it came to Parliament.”

Here’s @Jacob_Rees_Mogg telling a lie on Channel 4 News. Jeremy Corbyn voted for the Good Friday Agreement. One of the few MPs who did vote against it, however, was Rees-Mogg’s hard-Brexit colleague & fellow member of the European Research Group, Desmond Swayne. pic.twitter.com/lm0PKwSLni

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— Alex Nunns (@alexnunns) February 28, 2018

Channel 4 News later made what it admitted was a “mangled” correction, and clarified that Corbyn did vote for the Good Friday Agreement:

In a rush at the end of the programme we slightly mangled our correction about Jacob Rees-Mogg’s assertion that Jeremy Corbyn voted against the Good Friday Agreement, he did in fact vote for the Good Friday Agreement, but against the Anglo-Irish Agreement.

— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) February 28, 2018

Rees-Mogg also apologised – partly in Latin, but your mole supposes it still counts. “Mea culpa,” the Tory MP tweeted. “I was wrong to say that Mr Corbyn voted against the Good Friday Agreement. He did not.”

Mea culpa, I was wrong to say that Mr Corbyn voted against the Good Friday Agreement. He did not.

— Jacob Rees-Mogg (@Jacob_Rees_Mogg) March 1, 2018

But perhaps Rees-Mogg should go further and revise his suggestion that Brexiteers don’t want to abandon the agreement. After all, the current Environment Secretary and leading Brexiteer Michael Gove denounced the Good Friday Agreement two years after it had been signed, and the arch Brexiteer and Rees-Mogg’s fellow member of the European Research Group Desmond Swayne was one of the few MPs who voted against the Northern Ireland Bill at the time.