Farage: I want new EU vote to kill off debate
NIGEL Farage was last night accused of attention-seeking after he suggested there should be a second Brexit referendum.
The former Ukip leader said he was increasingly persuaded that another vote would ‘kill off ’ attempts by Remainers to keep the country in the EU.
He argued that the Leave side would win by an even bigger margin if the referendum were run again.
But fellow Brexit supporters accused Mr Farage of an attention-seeking stunt to boost his own profile and said it was a ‘belated Christmas present’ for Europhiles.
Former Tory party leader Iain Duncan Smith said: ‘It is ridiculous, he is such a preposterous self-publicist.
‘He doesn’t get much coverage any more, nobody is really interested in what he has to say, he has slipped off the radar.’
During a visit to Brussels on Monday, Mr Farage rejected the idea of a second poll. He said: ‘We voted to leave. It’s very simple. We wish to govern our own country. End of.’
But yesterday he suggested another ballot could ensure Brexit is not thrown off course. In an appearance on Channel 5’s The Wright Stuff, he said: ‘My mind is actually changing on all this. What is for certain is that the Cleggs, the Blairs the Adonises will never ever, ever give up.
‘They will go on whingeing and whining and moaning all the way through this process.
‘So maybe, just maybe, I’m reaching the point of thinking that we should have a second referendum on EU membership.’
He added: ‘If we had a second referendum on EU membership we would kill it off for a generation. The percentage that would vote to leave next time would be very much bigger than it was last time round. We may just finish the whole thing off.’
Anti-Brexit campaigners last night gleefully celebrated Mr Farage’s remarks. Sir Nick Clegg tweeted: ‘I agree with Nigel.’ Lord Adonis added: ‘Bring it on.’
Labour MP Chuka Umunna, a supporter of pro-EU campaign group Open Britain, said: ‘For perhaps the first time in his life, Nigel Farage is making a valid point.
‘In a democracy like ours, the British people have every right to keep an open mind about Brexit.’
However, Theresa May firmly slapped down the idea. The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: ‘As I have said many times, we will not be having a second referendum.’
Tory MP Crispin Blunt asked: ‘Has he gone mad? The people have taken the decision.’
Fellow Tory Paul Masterton asked Mr Farage on Twitter to ‘save us all from your pathetic cries for attention’.
Current Ukip leader Henry Bolton also waded into the row.
He said: ‘Ukip policy on a second referendum remains unchanged. The party opposes a second referendum.
‘To hold such a referendum would be to call into question the decisive importance of the largest democratic exercise ever held by this country and the unambiguous mandate the people gave the Government on that day – the mandate to take us out of the European Union.’
Ukip MEP Patrick O’Flynn said: ‘Nigel will get himself plenty of headlines with his surprising call for a second Brexit referendum.
‘But he is as wrong about it as Cable, Blair etc are.’
Tory donor Peter Stringfellow yesterday said he was turning his back on the party in protest against its stance on Brexit.
The nightclub owner told the London Evening Standard: ‘I can’t live with the fact I’m supporting a party that is totally against what I think is good for our country.’