“Prepare for War” - Tucker Confronts Britain’s Most Pro-War Advocate

Tucker Carlson (0:04)

Mr. Rees-Mogg, thank you very much for having us in your home. It's really pretty. I'm sad to think of it being destroyed in the war you described.

What is this war and why do you have to fight it?

Jacob Rees-Mogg (0:15)

Okay, what I have said is that the United Kingdom needs to be prepared for war.

That we are coming under attack in various ways from Russia. We've had murders and attempted murders take place. There was attempted murder in Salisbury, and there was a murder that took place in London by agents of Putin. That Putin has invaded Ukraine and he is making threatening noises. That some Russian people close to the state, not formally of the state, have talked about the potential for nuclear war. And the way to avoid war is to prepare for it. And if you're prepared for war, it doesn't happen. So that's what I'm talking about. It's the preparedness, which I'm worried that we don't have.

Tucker Carlson (0:58)

Why would Putin want to threaten Britain?

Jacob Rees-Mogg (1:01)

Well, he is threatening Britain already. Why?

Tucker Carlson (1:03)

I wonder why.

Jacob Rees-Mogg (1:04)

Why has he tried to poison people in Salisbury? Why have his submarines been poking around near our undersea cables?

Tucker Carlson (1:12)

Do you have any sense of why? Why would he want to do that?

Jacob Rees-Mogg (1:15)

Well, I think he wishes to reassert the power of Russia, which in many ways is now a failing state, that its economy has been in the doldrums for years. Since the decline of the Soviet Union, it's lost a good deal of territory, which is a very un-Russian thing, that if you go really from the Romanovs taking charge in Russia, through to the collapse of the Soviet Union, in most years, Russia expands, and then you get the collapse of the Soviet Union, and Russia suddenly shrinks.

And it seems to me that that is looked upon by some Russians as a matter of shame, and against the historic destiny of Russia. Hence, of course, the reason for activity in Georgia, and more recently, in Ukraine.

Tucker Carlson (2:03)

Clearly, Russia wants some control over its neighbors. It wants a sphere of influence as a nuclear-armed power. But I wonder, and assuming that everything you're saying is true, and we could debate it, it still doesn't explain why Russia would want to pick a fight with Britain.

It's got a much larger economy than Britain's by, I think, basic measure.

Jacob Rees-Mogg (2:24)

No, it hasn't got a larger economy than Britain's. It's got a smaller economy than Britain's. It's got a larger military.

Tucker Carlson (2:30)

It's got a much larger economy. It has much more wealth and resources. It has a much larger manufacturing sector.

Jacob Rees-Mogg (2:35)

Its GDP is smaller than the UK's.

Tucker Carlson (2:38)

Yeah, but GDP is not. I mean, the only measure of an economy.

Jacob Rees-Mogg (2:42)

It's a pretty important measure of an economy.

Tucker Carlson (2:44)

It's one measure we can be able to support.

Jacob Rees-Mogg (2:46)

Russia is an economic failure.

That it could have a huge economy, but it's got a small economy because it's deeply corrupt and it hasn't managed to use its resources effectively. And so although the population of Russia is bigger than that of the United Kingdom, very significantly, its GDP per capita is so much lower that the total GDP of Russia is smaller than that of the United Kingdom.

Tucker Carlson (3:13)

It's inherent wealth dwarfs that of the UK.

It's the largest country in the world. But leaving aside that, I'm not in charge of sense of planning in Russia.

Jacob Rees-Mogg (3:21)

Inherent wealth isn't very useful, is it? There are lots of African countries that have huge resources that have never been able to use them.

Tucker Carlson (3:26)

It depends what your timeline is.

Jacob Rees-Mogg (3:28)

Well, if you go over hundreds of years, they haven't used them.

Tucker Carlson (3:31)

Yeah.

Jacob Rees-Mogg (3:32)

Russia has consistently been a poor country in spite of its resources.

Tucker Carlson (3:35)

Yeah, okay. I don't agree, but I will grant you that.

Jacob Rees-Mogg (3:38)

Okay.

Tucker Carlson (3:39)

But it still doesn't explain why Russia would benefit from fighting with the UK. Do you imagine that they want to take your territory?

Jacob Rees-Mogg (3:48)

Russia has already shown itself to be aggressive, as we saw with the invasion of Ukraine, which was not only illegal in international law, but also against a specific agreement between Russia, the United States, the UK, and Ukraine, that in return for Ukraine giving up its nuclear weapons, Russia and the other signatories would allow its territorial integrity to be maintained.