Time to step aside Mr Farage – with your head held high

IT CANNOT be said firmly enough, or often enough, that the threat posed to the UK by a Jeremy Corbyn government is greater than any political or economic threat to this country in our lifetimes.

People like Mr Corbyn do not normally get anywhere near real political power, for the very good reason that they are not fit for it. Their fellow Parliamentarians, who know them well, normally see to it that such people stay on the margins, where they can do no harm

It is only a series of accidents, fanned by the incompetence of the Labour Party’s ruling apparatus and its crazy voting system, which has put t his unlikely man within reach of Downing Street.

It is extraordinary how unfit he is for high office in our democracy. One of his closest aides, The Mail on Sunday reveals today, was courted by undercover Czech Intelligence operatives at the height of the Cold War.

Concern about such things cannot be dismissed as mere party politics. It is remarkable how many Labour MPs or former Labour MPs, men and women who know him best, have reacted with utter dismay to his elevation to their party’s leadership.

Whatever the polls may say, the risk is real. If the Tories do not win outright, no easy task after nearly ten years in office, a Corbyn-led coalition of some kind is frighteningly possible.

A man of greatly limited ability, who has for years associated with terrorist sympathisers, pocket Bolsheviks and anti

Jewish bigots, could actually be invited by the Queen to form a government before Christmas.

In normal circumstances Mr Corbyn, with his dubious associates, his wild spending plans and his contorted Brexit policy, would stand no chance against Boris Johnson – whose vigour and elan have been much on display in recent days despite a shaky start.

But the current divisions and bitterness on the Right of politics, caused by Brexit, have ensured that these are not normal circumstances. And that is why it is so important that Nigel Farage and the Brexit Party should not, however unintentionally, damage Boris Johnson’s chances by drawing vital votes away from the Tories in marginal seats.

This is not like the European Parliament elections, where everyone involved can take a holiday from responsibility and indulge themselves. This is a deadly serious contest for the future of Britain. It i s also important to remember that the implementation of the 2016 referendum result depends entirely on it. A Corbyn government simply cannot be trusted to do this.

So Mr Farage needs to think very carefully. He has done his country a great service, revolutionised its politics, brought about the referendum and won it. He has by his efforts persuaded the Tory Party to adopt the Brexit cause, a task which once looked unachievable.

Of course he has not got all he wanted, and nor has the movement he leads. But Boris Johnson’s agreement with Brussels is a decent workable compromise which will take us out of the EU.

If Mr Farage insists on pursuing his impossible dream of a perfect Brexit, he will not get it.

Many of his supporters recognise this already, as our poll shows. All he can do now is to endanger a Tory victory and so risk the goal he has fought so long to reach.

He should recognise his own great achievement, and safeguard it.

He should step aside now, with his head held high.