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‘Spirit of sympathy to Europe’: Jacob Rees-Mogg suggests drinking French wine to mark BrexitBy The Independent

Jacob Rees-Mogg has deemed it would be “allowable” for UK citizens to drink French wine “in a spirit of sympathy to Europe” on the eve of Britain’s formal departure from the EU.

The Commons leader’s apparent jibe came in response to a warning from SNP MP Patrick Grady, who cautioned the government against “any kind of triumphalism about all of this”.

“Tomorrow is not the end of Brexit, it is only the beginning,” the Glasgow North MP warned.

Mr Grady said communities across Scotland would gather to say “au revoir, not adieu” to fellow members of the EU, claiming “many in the EU will be leaving a light on for Scotland” so the country can find its way “back home to Europe” as an independent member state.

“I too am very keen that we should maintain cordial relations with our friends in the European Union but without being governed by them, and that seems to me an extremely satisfactory way to be proceeding from now on,” Mr Rees-Mogg said.

On Wednesday, the European Parliament approved Boris Johnson’s withdrawal agreement, with anti-Brexit MEPs breaking into a farewell chorus of “Auld Lang Syne” immediately after the vote.

Brexit Party MEPs later broke the parliament’s rules by waving Union Jack flags, earning a reprimand from the speaker before they left the chamber for the final time.

“We don’t want to be triumphalist about it but I think, in a spirit of sympathy to Europe, it would be allowable for some of us at 11pm on Friday to drink some French sparkling wine,” Mr Rees-Mogg added on Thursday. “I don’t think that’d be unduly unreasonable.”

Mr Rees-Mogg was conspicuous by his absence during the general election campaign, after he suggested those who had died in Grenfell Tower lacked common sense in following official “stay put” advice.

While he has retained his cabinet position, his comments about French wine suggested he remains somewhat out of the loop, as it emerged crates of English sparkling wine had been spotted being delivered into Number 10 earlier this month.

But Mr Rees-Mogg appeared jovial, adding: “I’d just say one thing about leaving the lights on – I thought the SNP was very environmentally-friendly so I hope they’re carefully investigating the carbon cost of this.”

On Wednesday, Holyrood voted to back Nicola Sturgeon’s demand for a second independence referendum.

The motion calls on Westminster to “reach an agreement with the Scottish government on such a referendum taking place on a date and in a manner determined by the Scottish parliament”.

Additional reporting by Press Association