Politics
Harry Fletcher
Feb 09, 2022
Parliament TV
Boris Johnson has been reshuffling his cabinet in a bid to strengthen his position amid the partygate scandal, and his first announcement was to make Jacob Rees-Mogg the new minister for Brexit opportunities.
He moves from leader of the Commons to the new position, while Chief whip Mark Spencer has been moved to Rees-Mogg’s former role.
Social media users have been reacting to the news, and an awful lot of people are making the same joke.
The official Have I Got News For You account joked that the new job “won’t really add anything to his workload”.
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Another said the Brexit Opportunities minister job is “ideally suited to Jacob Rees Mogg’s talents, because there aren’t any. And there aren’t any.”
Others are also pointing back to previous comments from Rees-Mogg, which saw him say that the benefits of Brexit could take 50 years to materialise.
In fairness \u201cMinister for Brexit Opportunities\u201d is ideally suited to Jacob Rees Mogg\u2019s talents, because there aren\u2019t any. And there aren\u2019t any.— Mitch Benn \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa (@Mitch Benn \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7\ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa) 1644328417
I see we are having April Fools Day early— Chris (@Chris) 1644326911
Managed to get my hands on Rees-Mogg's 10 point white paper on Brexit Opportunitiespic.twitter.com/rFR6gztIOO— Otto English (@Otto English) 1644329676
it may take 50 years to see the benefits of Jacob Rees-Mogg as Brexit minister— Henry Mance (@Henry Mance) 1644326651
Jacob Rees-Mogg appointed \u2018Minister for Brexit Opportunities\u2019 on basis it won\u2019t really add anything to his workload.— Have I Got News For You (@Have I Got News For You) 1644332143
This has to be a joke. This can\u2019t be real. Jacob Rees-Mogg named Brexit Opportunities Minister. The very man who moved his business/investments to Ireland due to Brexit. No, this is actually incredibly comedic and terrifying.— Dr. Jennifer Cassidy (@Dr. Jennifer Cassidy) 1644330005
Mogg, eagerly on the lookout for those myriad Brexit Opportunities...pic.twitter.com/WmPYxVSX2t— Chris Shaw (@Chris Shaw) 1644328536
There\u2019s a sort of poetry to Rees-Mogg in a made up job purporting to find ANY opportunities in an absolute pile of sh*t that he\u2019s so far been defending with quips about fish.https://twitter.com/pickardje/status/1491039968269320192\u00a0\u2026— Rosie Holt (@Rosie Holt) 1644330674
Boris Johnson makes Jacob Rees-Mogg his Minister for "Brexit Opportunities.\u201d\n\nSo no great rush then.pic.twitter.com/4abbgQbDPg— Adam Bienkov (@Adam Bienkov) 1644327662
Warmest congratulations to Jacob Rees-Mogg, who has secured the only job so far created by #Brexit.— Brendan May (@Brendan May) 1644338584
Rees-Mogg is the first minister to have a role devoted to Brexit since David Frost resigned from the post of Chief Negotiator of Task Force Europe in December.
The 52-year-old previously served as leader of the Commons from 2019 to 2022, having become the MP for North East Somerset in May 2010.
It comes after Rees-Mogg recently made a brow-raising statement defending the continued backlash Johnson is facing in the wake of partygate.
“The reality is that the British elector looks to a leader, and it is very pleased with the leader that it has got," he said while explaining the UK has “a presidential system”, meaning that any new leader would need their own mandate from the electorate.
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