Farage in warning to Tories over deal
NIGEL FARAGE has thrown down a General Election gauntlet to Boris Johnson, calling on him to ditch his Brexit deal and form a “Leave alliance”.
The Brexit Party leader said he will field a candidate in every seat in Britain if the Prime Minister does not drop his EU Withdrawal Agreement and get together in what he said could be a “non-aggression pact”.
Launching the party’s General Election campaign in Westminster, Mr Farage said the PM’s deal did not represent Brexit and described his “very big, generous offer” as a “one-off opportunity” that would secure Brexit and win the election with a “big stonking majority”.
Mr Farage said if the Tories did not agree to abandon the deal, he would make sure every household in the country was made aware it was a “sell out” of Brexit.
Mr Farage said if Mr Johnson did not agree to his terms his party “will contest every single seat in England, Scotland and Wales”. He said: “Of course, I’m open and flexible to local exceptions and already we are in communication with a number of MPs who are prepared to renounce the Withdrawal Agreement, to renounce the deal, and they themselves to stand on a ticket of a genuine free trade agreement or leave on WTO terms.
“And of course in those cases where MPs say this, we will view them as our friends and not as our enemies.”
It is thought Mr Farage’s party may try to persuade staunch Tory Brexiteers to do a U-turn on their support for Mr Johnson’s Withdrawal Agreement and his party could then leave those Tory candidates to run in their constituency without opposition from the Brexit Party.
Explaining his “non-aggression pact” idea, Mr Farage said: “There are seats in which we would not stand and there are some seats in which the Conservatives would not stand. In particular, old Labour seats that have never ever been Conservative, never ever will be Conservative, where there were Leave majorities in the referendum, but they’re represented by Remain MPs. They, for us, are our number one target.”
Steve Baker, chairman of the European Research Group of Tory Brexiteers, said he was “at a loss” to know what Mr Farage wants to achieve, adding: “I am no more willing to be bullied by Nigel Farage than anyone else into acting against my best understanding of the national interest.
“The reason every Conservative Eurosceptic MP backed the deal is that it can deliver a Brexit worth having.”
Mr Farage said Mr Johnson’s deal is “simply not Brexit”, adding: “So what I’m saying is – it’s a General Election, it’s a chance to press the reset button, drop the deal and let’s move forward and let’s form some kind of Brexit alliance and win the election.”
Conservative Party chairman James Cleverly said a vote for Mr Farage “risks letting Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street via the back door – and the country spending 2020 having two referendums on Brexit and Scottish independence”.