Jacob Rees-Mogg admits 'coup' to oust PM has gone a bit 'Dad's Army'

Brexiteer-in-chief Jacob Rees-Mogg said he was a fan of hapless Dad’s Army character Captain Mainwaring today as his plot to unseat Theresa May appeared to descend into farce.

“I’ve always admired Captain Mainwaring,” he admitted after his attempt to trigger a confidence vote was compared with an episode of the long-running BBC comedy.

But his self-deprecating joke fell flat on a day that Bank of England governor Mark Carney warned of a “real economy shock” if the Brexiteers achieved their dream of a no-deal Brexit.

Former Business Minister Anna Soubry said Mr Rees-Mogg better resembled the idiotic Private Pike. “Captain Mainwaring would have called him ‘you stupid boy’,” she said.

“Jacob won’t lose his job or his prospects from a disastrous Brexit, but there are people in constituencies like mine who will,” she added.

It came as:

• Mrs May said she will travel to Brussels tomorrow to seal her withdrawal deal and discuss future trade with Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker.

• Senior Tory remain supporting MP Damian Collins announced he will vote against Theresa May’s withdrawal deal because it risked a relationship with the EU that was “worse than our current terms of membership”.

• Mrs May’s 10 DUP allies threatened “political consequences” if the deal goes ahead, hinting they could end the confidence and supply deal that has propped up the Government. The party fired a warning short by rebelling on Finance Bill amendments last night.

• Bosses’ group the Institute of Directors (IOD) said a survey found three quarters of its members thought it “extremely important” for a withdrawal deal to get through Parliament to avoid worse uncertainty.

• Britain’s Supreme Court rejected an attempt by the Government to stop the European Court of Justice from being allowed to hear a case brought by anti-Brexit campaigners against withdrawal.

Mr Rees-Mogg was fielding reporters’ questions at a Westminster press conference when he was asked if attempt to lead a confidence vote plot had been exposed as a Dad’s Army operation.

The show was one of the BBC’s longest-running comedies, starring Arthur Lowe as the incompetent and vain commander of Walmington-on-Sea home guard.

Asked why the necessary 48 letters to force a confidence vote had not materialised, Mr Rees-Mogg said: “Patience is a virtue, virtue is a grace. We will see what letters come in due time.”

He blustered: “Do 47 want to come with me or not? I may find that they don’t or they don’t do it today but when we get the meaningful vote. That’s a decision for them.”

Mr Rees-Mogg then denied he was trying to mount a “coup” against Mrs May, insisting he was merely using the legitimate processes of party democracy.

Under party rules, a confidence vote is triggered if 48 Tory MPs write to 1922 Committee chair Sir Graham Brady asking for one.

Some of Mr Rees-Mogg’s ERG members claimed up to 80 letters might flood in when he and other senior right wingers announced they were writing to Sir Graham. But there was no sign today that the trigger point had been reached and Mr Rees-Mogg admitted it might have to wait for next month’s Commons vote on the deal.

Justice Secretary David Gauke however said that toppling Mrs May in the middle of negotiations

would be “self-indulgent and dangerous”.

Carney warned that the Bank of England could not save Britain’s economy from the threatened “unprecedented supply shock” of crashing out of the EU.

He sounded the alarm over job losses and a blow to wages if the UK quits the European Union with “no deal” in March.

The “shock” would be to the “real economy” - companies and households up and down the country - rather than specifically the City, he told the Commons Treasury committee

“This is not the financial crisis...round two,” he said.

The BoE, which would be “more of a sideshow” than in the financial crash, believes the Square Mile will be in place to ease the pain.

“That is not the same thing as saying it will all be alright...an unprecedented supply shock...that has both temporary and more persistent components,” he told the MPs.

“Temporary components think the trucks at Dover and some of the friction costs in the medium and short term.

“More permanent issues...are around lost access to major market...or to major suppliers..and therefore how does a business reorientate itself and that takes time.

“It means that some of your capital, and unfortunately potentially some of your workers may be stranded, that’s a polite word..it would not be a happy situation to be in.

“During that period of time, there is a reduction, all things being equal, in the supply capacity of the economy - that means lost output, lost jobs, lower wages, higher inflation.”

Mr Carney also voiced support for Mrs May’s proposed withdrawal deal and the option for extending the transition period.

He explained that many businesses were not ready for a “no deal”.

The Bank announced it is bringing forward an analysis on what Theresa May’s withdrawal deal would mean for the financial sector compared with no-deal, so that MPs will see it ahead of the Commons vote.