London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

No 10 backs Jacob Rees-Mogg's attack on HuffPost journalist

No 10 backs Jacob Rees-Mogg's attack on HuffPost journalist

News website demands retraction from leader of the Commons who called editor ‘a knave or a fool’
Downing Street has declined to offer evidence for Jacob Rees-Mogg’s claim that a journalist was “either a knave or a fool” and deliberately distorted comments by another minister, but is standing by the allegation.

While Boris Johnson’s spokesperson said Rees-Mogg’s words were “not comments that the PM would have made”, the decision to stand by the leader of the Commons risks escalating a furious row with the media.

Rees-Mogg’s comment in the House of Commons on Thursday prompted condemnation from the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), and a demand for retraction and an apology from HuffPost UK, the website concerned.

The No 10 spokesperson declined to criticise Rees-Mogg or say that Johnson had reprimanded him, insisting that quotes by Dominic Raab, reported by HuffPost this week, “had been selectively clipped, which distorted the foreign secretary’s comments”.

The story, by Arj Singh, HuffPost’s deputy political editor, quoted a leaked extract of a video call between Raab and staff in which Raab said it was possible the UK could strike trade deals with countries whose human rights records breached the European convention on human rights (ECHR).

Asked about the story, Rees-Mogg had said the recording was edited “unfairly, improperly, and broadly dishonestly”, and condemned what he called “a very cheap level of journalism”. Challenged by Labour, Rees-Mogg said Singh “is either a knave or a fool”.

HuffPost has rejected the claim, saying Rees-Mogg used the legal privilege of speaking in parliament to launch an unwarranted attack. The NUJ accused the government of “acting like playground bullies”.

Asked about the criticisms, Johnson’s spokesperson declined to engage with them. “The PM is a staunch believer in the value of the free press and the important role journalists play in our democracy,” he said. “These are not comments that the PM would’ve made. These comments were made by Jacob Rees-Mogg and I’m confident that he can explain their intended meaning.”

The spokesperson was asked several times what evidence No 10 had to back up the claim that the story deliberately and dishonestly edited Raab’s words to change their meaning. The spokesperson did not offer any, instead merely repeating the claim.

He added that a fuller version of the audio from Raab’s speech had been provided by Downing Street. While these comments show Raab giving extra context about the role of human rights in deciding policy, they do not contradict the key point of the story, that the UK could potentially seek to trade with countries whose rights records beach the ECHR.

Asked on Thursday whether such trade deals could happen, Johnson’s press secretary, Allegra Stratton, did not deny it, saying this was “a separate issue that is being resolved elsewhere”.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×