Bizarre clip shows Jacob Rees-Mogg defeated by bottle of water

A bizarre competition of strength between two of the most pro-Brexit Tories was aired in a BBC documentary last night – in which Jacob Rees-Mogg fails to open a bottle of water.

The Eurosceptic MP, who caused fury in November when he said he would have left burning Grenfell Tower despite firefighters ordering residents to stay put, is shown struggling to unscrew a water bottle cap.

The Brexit Storm Continues: Laura Kuenssberg’s Inside Story shows a clip of the North East Somerset MP failing to get to grips with the lid at a Brexit event.

He attempts to twist the cap several times but, vanquished, he is forced to turn to self-described “Brexit hardman” Steve Baker for help.

Mr Baker, one of the so-called Spartans, a group of Tories who held out to resist Theresa May’s attempts to pass her Brexit deal, lives up to his Greek moniker as he twists the cap off in one go.

“I do all the hard jobs in this partnership,” Mr Baker tells Mr Rees-Mogg. He later joked about it on Twitter.

Commons leader Mr Rees-Mogg has been out of the public eye since he made his comments about Grenfell early in the election campaign.

He told LBC: “I think if either of us were in a fire, whatever the fire brigade said, we would leave the burning building.”

Grenfell United, which represents survivors of the tower fire, described his remarks as “extremely painful and insulting to bereaved families”.

He later apologised and said he would have listened to firefighters’ advice, and added that he had been speaking with the benefit of hindsight.

Rumours circulated that Mr Rees-Mogg could pay the price for the comments by being sacked from his position, but he remains as Commons leader and Lord President of the Council.