Jacob Rees-Mogg's ERG group mocked as people compare press conference pictures to colourised WWI footage

People have taken to social media to mock Jacob Rees Mogg’s European Research Group after members held a press conference this morning.

During the event, Mr Rees-Mogg acknowledged they were struggling to get the support they needed to force a vote of no confidence in Theresa May.

Last week, senior ERG figures were confidently predicting they would get the 48 letters of no confidence from MPs needed to trigger a vote in Mrs May's leadership.

Asked why the necessary letters had not materialised, Mr Rees-Mogg said the task "has shown to be quite difficult".

Following the press conference, many people took to social media to mock the Brexiteer and his group, with some likening images of the group to a recent documentary using colourised WWI footage.

Paul Richards tweeted: "The way they've colourised this old b/w footage is incredible. It really brings them to life.

"It's only on iPlayer for one more day."

Mr Richards appeared to be comparing the image to Peter Jackson's recent documentary They Shall Not Grow Old, which featured colourised war footage.

Meanwhile others online turned the image of the group into black and white or said the picture had been taken in 1952.

Steve Lapsley tweeted alongside a sepia-toned image of the press conference: "Picture emerges of last ERG press conference.

While others made jokes comparing the group to the seven dwarves from Snow White, naming the members "Plummy, Stuffy, Wealthy, Cowardly, Shifty, Clumsy and Innumerate".

Brexiteer-in-chief Jacob Rees-Mogg earlier said he was a fan of hapless Dad's Army character Captain Mainwaring.

“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.

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 comes as Bank of England governor Mark Carney warned of a "real economy shock" if the Brexiteers achieved their dream of a no-deal Brexit.