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Jacob Rees-Mogg threatened to sue the BBC as a 12-year-old "schoolboy financier" for not paying him £18 for an interview on the Today Show.

The Conservative MP wrote a letter to the corporation demanding payment for his appearance on Radio 4.

He told BBC bosses in the strongly worded missive: “I have no idea what your excuse is but I will not accept it.”

He then threatened to double the debt if it was not paid within two months.

An article published in a 1981 edition of the Evening Standard detailed young Mr Rees-Mogg’s demands.

It appeared alongside a picture of the politician outside the Bank of England sporting a huge overcoat and a monocle.

The column references his father former BBC vice-chairman Lord Rees-Mogg.

It reads: “It is time Sir William Rees-Mogg did something to check the avarice of his 12-year-old son Jacob.

“The schoolboy financier has taken to debt collecting in a particularly heavy-handed way

“After giving an interview to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme in September and demanding a fee of £18 for doing it the young Rees-Mogg took it upon himself to fire off a stern warning to the programme when payment didn’t arrive thereafter.

“The letter arrived in the Today studios and was pinned to a noticeboard.”

Young Mr Rees-Mogg, who said the Financial Times had been his favourite newspaper since the age of two, expressed his desire to avoid prosecuting the BBC.

The letter read: “Dear Today programme, you are in a debt of £18 which was payable as from 13/9/81.

“I have no idea what your excuse is but I will not accept it. If it is not received by 10/11/81 which is nearly two months, I shall increase it to £36.

“If it is not received within 10 days I shall take legal advice. I hope it does not come to that for I have no desire to prosecute the BBC.”

According to the article, the corporation appeared to pay up.

The schoolboy also spent stock market profits on antique silver “because it looked nicer than share certificates”, the article added.

Mr Rees-Mogg told the Sun: “The errors of my misspent youth…

He added that he was “more likely to have saved it than spent it”.