Leading Tory Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg has refused to apologise to Jeremy Corbyn after falsely accusing the Labour leader of voting against the Good Friday Agreement.
Rees-Mogg made the false claim that Corbyn had voted against the treaty which secured peace in Ireland to millions of TV viewers on last night’s Channel 4 News programme.
But now, rather than apologise to Mr Corbyn, Rees-Mogg simply issued a retraction on Twitter, stating:
Mea culpa, I was wrong to say that Mr Corbyn voted against the Good Friday Agreement. He did not.
Whilst Rees-Mogg’s retraction will have been welcomed by Corbyn’s camp, it will surely not be enough to undo the damage caused by Mogg’s false claims in front of a live prime time TV audience.
Many on social media were outraged that the Tory Brexiteer failed to issue an apology to the Labour leader, with former Labour MP George Galloway tweeting:
Wouldn’t an apology on the end of that have been becoming Jacob? You are an honourable gentleman after all.
@jeremycorbyn#Corbyn#ReesMogg
Wouldn’t an apology on the end of that have been becoming Jacob? You are an honourable gentleman after all. @jeremycorbyn #Corbyn #ReesMogg
— George Galloway (@georgegalloway) March 1, 2018
And after someone had challenged him whether Rees-Mogg’s actions proved he was not in fact an ‘honourable gentleman’, Galloway clarified that:
No, he is. Which is why I’m puzzled that he has so far declined to do what he knows he should, and do the honourable thing. A Mea Culpa is not an apology
— George Galloway (@georgegalloway) March 1, 2018
Others were rightly concerned that Rees-Mogg’s simple tweeted retraction would not reach nearly as many people as his initial false claim did:
Maybe you should make apology on Channel 4 news where you made the accusation.
— KEITH BUNTING (@KeithBunting007) March 1, 2018
Whilst the retraction of his false claim is a good step, it remains to be seen whether or not Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will choose to take action to force Rees-Mogg to truly rectify the harm caused.
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