Brexit: Jacob Rees-Mogg suggests government could use EU law to force through no-deal

‘EU law is superior law in the UK’, argues leading Brexiteer

Jacob Rees-Mogg has suggested that the government could use EU law in order to force through a no-deal Brexit by the end of the month.

The Commons leader said he believed there was a “pathway to a deal” but hinted that Boris Johnson could use European legislation to get around a law compelling him to delay Brexit if there is no deal in place by next week.

Ahead of a make-or-break week for Brexit, Mr Rees-Mogg warned pro-EU MPs that “it takes two to tango” and any extension must be signed off by Brussels.

It comes as the prime minister faced pressure from the EU to move “further and faster” to break the Brexit impasse, ahead of a critical two-day summit this week.

EU and UK officials will hold talks in Brussels on Monday as the prime minister’s hopes of progress stood on a knife edge.

Mr Johnson has repeatedly committed to leaving the EU on 31 October, with or without a deal, but his hands have been tied by a backbench law tabled by Labour’s Hilary Benn, that aims to prevent a no-deal Brexit.

Asked how ministers could get round this legislation, Mr Rees-Mogg said: “The law of this land is subject to the law of the European Union, so we’ll have to see what the legal eagles think.”

He added: “Theresa May got an extension not through UK law, but through EU law and until the 1972 European Communities Act is repealed, EU law is superior law in the UK.

“And the remainiacs all know that, because they know that it takes two to tango and any extension has to be agreed by the council.”

The Brexiteer urged Leave voters to trust the prime minister, who he described as a “copper-bottomed Eurosceptic” who has ”put his political career on the line” in order to leave the EU.

Mr Rees-Mogg argued that the EU “could act swiftly” when necessary, adding: “The 31 October is a really proper deadline. The prime minister has made it absolutely clear that we will leave by 31 October.

“I think that’s what the whole nation now wants us to do, they want this issue finished, they want it settled.

“Therefore there is great urgency and the EU and the UK will have to move very quickly to make that work.”

Time is running out to hammer out a deal for EU leaders to sign off at the European Council summit on Thursday and Friday, despite talks taking place over the weekend.

The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, said “technical-level” talks between officials over the weekend had proved “constructive”.

But in a briefing to ambassadors of the remaining EU27 on Sunday in Brussels, he said that “a lot of work remains to be done”.