The Chair of the ERG, a hardline group of Conservative Brexiteers, addresses reporters outside his London home on 28 March 2019 | Dan Kitwood via Getty Images Jacob Rees-Mogg defends AfD tweet Tory MP says he does not support the German far right but ‘it’s important people know this is a strand of German political thinking.’

Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg defended retweeting a speech by a leading member of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), saying the opinions expressed have “real importance” for the Brexit debate.

Rees-Mogg was criticized for retweeting a speech in the German parliament by the AfD's Alice Weidel. Labour MP David Lammy said Rees-Mogg was "promoting Germany's overtly racist party, AfD."

"Our country's proudest moment was defeating the far right," Lammy wrote on Twitter. "Now we are supposed to sit back while xenophobes, nativists, nationalists & isolationists do their best to tear Europe apart again."

In her speech, Weidel accused German Chancellor Angela Merkel of being "partly responsible" for Brexit "due to your negligence and your failure to help out the EU."

"What did David Cameron ask for that was so terrible?" Weidel asked, adding that in Brussels, "he was banging his head against a brick wall." She also accused Merkel of gambling "with the unity of the EU."

Rees-Mogg added the message: “The AfD leader asks: ‘Is it any wonder the British see bad faith behind every manoeuvre from Brussels?’”

Asked about the decision to retweet the German far-right on LBC radio Monday, the Tory MP said: “No, no, I’m not supporting the AfD. But this is a speech made in the Bundestag of real importance because it shows a German view of Brexit and it’s saying to the Germans: ‘Look, you’re paying for this, you’re going to pay more for this,’ and Angela Merkel has tied herself up in knots with the French to the disadvantage of the Germans.

“And I think it’s important people know this is a strand of German political thinking. I don’t think retweeting is an endorsement of things that other people stand for. It’s just pointing out that there’s something interesting that is worth watching.”