EXCL Jacob Rees-Mogg calls for permanent UK base in Baltics to deter Russian 'bullies'

Britain should set up a permanent military base in the Baltics to show Vladimir Putin that the West will not be "bullied" by the Kremlin, Jacob Rees-Mogg has said.



The Tory MP said the current system, where UK troops are deployed to the area on rotation as part of a Nato plan, did not send a strong enough message to the Russian president.

He also called for a "vigorous" response to the nerve agent attack on former double agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury.

On Brexit, the high-profile eurosceptic said Britain should suggest the Republic of Ireland leaves the EU single market and customs union as a way of avoiding a hard border with Northern Ireland.

And he said those warning that leaving the EU could result in a return of the Troubles were "almost encouraging violence".

Speaking to The House magazine, Mr Rees-Mogg said: "There is a rotating system of troops under Nato, where the British send forces to the Baltic.

"I think we should look at having a permanent establishment there to make it absolutely clear to Putin that the Nato guarantee is inviolable and the Baltic states, Poland and so on, will be protected and that we will view any further cyber-attacks, as there was on Estonia a few years ago, as requiring a response in kind.

"You have to stand up to bullies - Russia is a bully."

The North East Somerset MP said Russia had "put itself outside the norms of international behaviour" over the poisoning of Mr Skripal and his daughter, Yulia.

He said: "You have a choice in these circumstances: either you accept that countries will behave in this way and let them get away with it, or you respond vigorously.

"And in my view, we must respond vigorously and make it quite clear to Russia that behaviour in this way will not be tolerated meekly by the western world.

"What does that mean? First of all, just expelling a few diplomats isn’t enough. It needs to be tougher action than that. We need to look at hitting Russia financially.

"The Russians have a lot of assets in London and some of the Russians with assets are linked to Putin. If you can establish a trail and show it is his money then you should go after that and freeze their assets."

IRELAND

Elsewhere in the interview, Mr Rees-Mogg, who is chairman of the influential European Research Group of Conservative backbenchers, hit out at the EU for suggesting Northern Ireland could stay in the customs union after Brexit to avoid border checks on goods coming from the Republic.

He said: "I think they’re the stick in the muds in this and have come up with a solution that is wholly impossible for the United Kingdom to accept, that we should take Northern Ireland out of the United Kingdom.

"Why don’t we suggest to them that the Republic of Ireland comes out of the single market and customs union and accepts our regulations? It’s an equally logical suggestion."

On warnings by some Remainers that a hard border in Ireland could result in a return of the Troubles, Mr Rees-Mogg said: "I think it’s a politically unappealing and cynical approach to suggest that violence may be a consequence of not doing what the pro-Europeans want, and they should think whether that is a wise approach to take.

"Once you start proposing that violence may be a consequence of something, you’re almost encouraging violence. So, people making that argument should think very carefully about the wisdom of that argument."