Throwing insults isn’t the way to woo voters
would prefer a looser agreement like the Tories have with the DUP, rather than a more formal coalition pact.
Mr Farage said polling commissioned by the Brexit Party showed 67 per cent of Leave voters would follow his suggestion if he called on them to vote tactically for another party.
Calling on Mr Johnson to do a deal, he added: ‘If we stand against each other, there is absolutely no way he can win a majority. But there is a very simple way through this.
‘If Boris’s Conservatives fight the election on a message that they want a clean-break Brexit, then what we will do is be prepared to stand aside and even support their candidates in seats where they’ve got the best chance of winning if they’ll do the same for us in seats where we’ve got the best chance of winning.
‘That really applies to areas of the country… where the people voted Leave in the referendum and where the Labour MP is a Remainer. ‘These are seats the Conservatives are never ever going to win for cultural reasons, but we’ve got a good chance.’
IS the Prime Minister beginning to realise that engaging in diplomacy is not always a sign of weakness?
The Mail heartily welcomes Boris Johnson’s determination to ‘get Brexit done’ by October 31. This tortuous saga has gone on far too long.
But some of his more confrontational tactics, such as summarily expelling from the party 21 MPs who opposed him in Parliament, may have set back rather than advanced that objective.
Yesterday, there were signs of Downing Street taking a softer line.
The 21 were invited to appeal against expulsion, and, in a separate development, there were positive noises about a possible backstop compromise – something Mr Johnson previously refused to countenance.
However, it was not all sweetness and light. The PM’s aides also rounded bitterly on Nigel Farage, who they said shouldn’t be allowed ‘anywhere near government’.
True, appearing to rule out an electoral pact with Mr Farage will reassure many Remain-inclined Tories.
But is it wise to use such provocative language? Many Brexit Party voters are natural Tories. Throwing insults is not the way to woo them back.
As this paper has consistently said, Mr Johnson is a man of great natural charm and intelligence. He must make full use of those gifts if he is to strike the Brexit deal this country yearns for. Theodore Roosevelt summed up his approach to diplomacy as: ‘Speak softly and carry a big stick.’ Our whole political discourse needs far more emphasis on the former and far less on the latter.