Jacob Rees-Mogg calls Juncker a ‘pound shop Bismarck’

Conservative MP says European Commission president is ‘arrogant and bullying.’

Jean-Claude Juncker was dubbed “arrogant and bullying” and a “pound shop Bismarck” by a leading Brexiteer angry at the European Commission chief’s stance on Brexit.

Juncker sharply criticized the U.K. on Tuesday for its handling of the Brexit talks, saying none of its position papers was satisfactory.

Speaking as Brexit negotiators resumed formal talks in Brussels, Juncker also rebuked London for trying to fast-forward the discussions to the future relationship rather than first settling the terms of its withdrawal from the EU.

Juncker, who said he had read all of the U.K.’s position papers with great interest, told a conference of the EU’s top diplomats: “None of those is actually satisfactory, so there is still an enormous amount of issues which remain to be settled.”

But Juncker’s hard line annoyed Jacob Rees-Mogg, arch Brexiteer and darling of the Conservative right. He said Britain must not pay anything near the amounts being suggested for the divorce bill — numbers have ranged from €60 billion to €100 billion — and likened Juncker unfavorably to Otto von Bismarck, widely viewed as the architect of a united Germany.

“Mr. Juncker’s effort to extort money from us shows he is an amateur even at blackmail,” Rees-Mogg told the Sun. “He has nothing to intimidate us with and the British people always stiffen their sinews when threatened.”

He added: “Mr. Juncker is a pound shop Bismarck, arrogant and bullying but without the charm.”