Brexit Party wants ‘clean break’ but may be open to Tory pact

THE Brexit Party hopes to wipe out Labour’s heartlands in the north-east of England and Wales as it prepares to campaign for a “clean-break Brexit” – but has left the door open to a pact with the Tories.

Senior sources in the Brexit Party said the mood in Labour’s pro-leave seats was “absolutely febrile” and that they would be ripe for the taking due to Jeremy Corbyn’s vague policy on Europe.

“I know for a fact that the Labour es- tablishment in Wales and the North East, especially Durham, are really worried,” said the Brexit Party’s spokesman. “Of course we will have an impact on the Tories but without a shadow of a doubt we can take seats from Labour because in bars and cafes across the country voters are laughing at their Brexit stance – they haven’t got one, and that is absurd.”

He added that the party’s door was open if Boris Johnson wishes to forge an electoral pact, but until that point its candidates will campaign for a “cleanbreak Brexit” where the UK leaves all EU institutions and then negotiates a free trade deal from outside the bloc.

“We haven’t made that call, but our doors have been open for months as we have made clear on numerous occasions.”

Nigel Farage, the Brexit Party leader, has described Mr Johnson’s deal as “simply not Brexit”, because he feels it is “95 per cent the same” as the agreement negotiated by Theresa May.

One key challenge, according to a senior Brexit Party MEP, will be pressuring Mr Johnson into abandoning his deal altogether and adopting their

“clean break” pledge.

In that scenario, Brexit Party candidates would be told to stand down in Tory seats, but continue to fight against Labour in seats where the Tories have not won for many decades.

“The Tories have had three and a half years to get Brexit done and the presumption that they’ve got some godgiven right to deliver it is a presumption too far in my opinion,” the MEP said.

It came as Alexandra Phillips, the

Brexit Party’s MEP for south-east England, compared the Prime Minister’s deal to a “piece of cheese left out of the fridge.”

“The more exposure it gets, the more it starts to honk,” she said. “He should own up to trying to hoodwink the British public by ramming through that appalling treaty by running his general election campaign on it.”

The Daily Telegraph understands that Redcar, Sunderland, Newport and Caerphilly are among the key regions targeted by the Brexit Party.

In total, the party will put forward around 450 candidates. However, one Brexit Party MEP questioned whether it would fare better by concentrating on a few dozen seats it can be sure of winning.

“Some are urging Nigel [Farage] only to stand in 50 seats, while the diehards want us to stand everywhere,” they said. There are also concerns that the Brexit Party’s strategy could end up backfiring by splitting the Leave vote.

“If we decide to be messianic and put up candidates all over the country, we’ll pull away some of votes from the Conservative Party and it’ll put their chances in jeopardy, which would lead to no Brexit,” a party source said.

“If the Brexit Party wants to get candidates elected, they’ll be far better putting efforts into a more limited number of seats.”

Rumours have swirled in Westminster and Brussels that either Mr Farage or Richard Tice, the Brexit Party chairman, may stand against the Prime Minister in his seat of Uxbridge and South Ruislip.

In the 2017 election, Mr Johnson won a comfortable majority wth 23,700 votes, while Labour secured only 18,600.

However, a party spokesman flatly denied this, and said talks on where senior party members would stand in other key seats were ongoing.

The Brexit Party believes that the anger among voters towards Mr Johnson and Mr Corbyn is so great that they will flood to the polls in a December election, even in cold, dark weather.

“Every weekend we’ve got people knocking on doors out there, and they are very good candidates,” said the party’s spokesman.

“All the campaign Whatsapp groups are fizzing, everyone is really enthusiastic and up for the fight.

“Any suggestion they are going to go away is extremely wishful thinking in some parts of No 10.”