Yahoo Finance EU commissioner mocks Rees-Mogg's all male Brexit meeting
A European commissioner has mocked Jacob Rees Mogg’s all-male panel of Brexit supporters in the latest round of a long running row over comparisons between the EU and Soviet Union.
The Tory MP leading a “coup” against Theresa May staged a press conference alongside a panel of six high profile supporters in London on Tuesday.
The group, which also included former Brexit secretary David Davis, have been branded “Dad’s Army” because they were all male political veterans.
But European health commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis suggested they looked more like the hardline Soviet officials who launched a 1991 coup against reforming leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
The Lithuanian politician tweeted a photo of Rees-Mogg’s supporters alongside another of members of the KGB-backed “state committee of the state of emergency” with the hashtag #historiansdejavu.
He wrote mischievously: “One of these photos is from the press conference of the State of Emergency State Committee (GKCP) members at the USSR Foreign Ministry.”
Andriukaitis insisted he was “not comparing anything” before adding: “If I did, maybe I’d say a word on gender representation.”
One of these photos 👇🏼 is from the press conference of the State of Emergency State Committee (GKCP) members at the #USSR Foreign Ministry.
But I am not comparing anything.If i did, maybe I’d say a word on gender representation. 🤔#historiansdejavu pic.twitter.com/8XpxnGBc0o
— Vytenis Andriukaitis (@V_Andriukaitis) November 20, 2018
The comments come after foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt last month compared the European Union to the Soviet Union.
Andriukaitis, who was born in a Soviet gulag, led the EU’s response to the controversial claim made by Hunt during his speech at Conservative party conference.
At the time, he wrote: “I was born in Soviet gulag and been imprisoned by KGB a few times in my life. Happy to brief you on the main differences between EU and Soviet Union. And also why we escaped the USSR. Anytime. Whatever helps.”
MORE: ‘Open a history book’: EU hits back at Hunt over Soviet comparison
He later published a letter he sent to a British citizen who defended Hunt’s comments, which said “likening the EU to the USSR is wrong and offensive.”
And, in a sign that the controversy hasn’t been forgotten in Brussels, the commissioner recently praised an SNP MP for slamming Hunt over his comparison in the Commons.
He said his offer to explain the differences between the EU and USSR is “still valid” and “can be extended to those sharing UK foreign secretary’s views.”
MORE: Farage claims Hunt’s EU Soviet comparison is a ‘victory’ for UKIP
