Farage: I will hurt the Labour vote
NIGEL FARAGE has said his Brexit Party will hurt Labour in “the most extraordinary way” in the forthcoming General Election.
Mr Farage has been accused by furious Tories of putting Brexit at risk with his plans to run candidates in more than 600 constituencies in the poll on December 12.
Leader of the Commons Jacob ReesMogg warned the Brexit Party leader was in danger of snatching “defeat from the jaws of victory” if he persisted with his plan.
However, Mr Farage – who was previously the leader of Ukip – said that his “number one target” would be Labour Leave voters who had been “completely betrayed” by their party.
“I led Ukip into the 2015 general election. I had all the same stuff, all the same arguments. The Tory tribe screaming and shouting, ‘Don’t take our votes’,” he told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
“The Ukip vote took more votes from Labour than it did from the Conservatives, (David) Cameron wouldn’t have even got a majority without Ukip.
“We are going to hurt the Labour Party in the most extraordinary way. We’ll do it in South Wales, we’ll do it in the Midlands, we’ll do it in the north of England. Those Labour voters have been completely betrayed by the Labour Party. They are my number one target. I got those votes in 2015, I’ll do it again.”
Boris Johnson last week rejected Mr Farage’s offer of a pact with the Tories if he dropped his Brexit deal. Mr Farage, who even won support from US president Donald Trump for his proposal of an alliance, argued the PM’s agreement with Brussels did not represent a true break with the EU.
However, Mr Rees-Mogg insisted the deal was a “complete Brexit” and that Mr Farage should recognise the time had come to “retire from the field”.
“I think he would be well-advised to recognise that that battle he won. He should be really proud of his political career,” he said. “It would be a great shame if he carries on fighting after he has already won to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
“I understand why Nigel Farage would want to carry on campaigning because he has been campaigning for the best part of 30 years and it must be hard to retire from the field. But that is what he ought to do.”
Mr Farage defended his decision not to stand himself in the election.
“I did have a serious go in 2015. I finished up spending way too much of my time in that constituency and not out around the country. I’m not making that mistake again,” he said.
Meanwhile Jeremy Corbyn has told his warring shadow cabinet the debate over Labour’s position on Brexit is over.
The party says it will seek to negotiate a new deal with Brussels which it would then put to the public in a new referendum.
A number of senior figures, including shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry and shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer, have suggested they would campaign for Remain in that referendum.