The Brexit wrecker?
Farage’s threat to the Tories
Campaigning officially began this week for the 12 December election, prompting immediate clashes over the issue of Brexit. Jeremy Corbyn claimed Boris Johnson’s EU exit deal would “unleash Thatcherism on steroids” and lead the NHS to be sold off to US firms. The Labour leader said he would negotiate a better deal and then put it to the public in another referendum. The Prime Minister, who has repeatedly denied that the NHS will be on the table in US trade talks, dismissed Corbyn’s plan, saying it would cause further uncertainty and take the country “back to square one”.
The Tories’ hopes of winning a majority were dealt a blow last week, when Nigel Farage vowed to field Brexit Party candidates in every seat unless the PM ditched his withdrawal deal, which he called a “gigantic con”, by 14 November. Farage’s stance was criticised by some former allies, who warned that it could split the Leave vote. Arron Banks, the former Ukip donor, accused Farage of being a “dog in the manger”, while the prominent Tory Eurosceptic Steve Baker said he risked becoming the “man who threw away Brexit”.
What the editorials said
“For a man who has failed seven times to get elected to the UK Parliament,” said the FT, “Nigel Farage has exercised an outsize – and malign – influence on British politics.” He’s not running for a seat this time, but by fielding a full roster of candidates, he could “make an already complex general election even more unpredictable”. Now that Johnson has struck a deal with the EU, said The Independent, there’s presumably less appetite for the no-deal, or “clean Brexit”, option championed by Farage. But if the Faragists do indeed stage a revival, Johnson can say goodbye to winning a majority.
Even if Farage doesn’t make good his threat on 14 November, he will still hurt the Tories, said The Times. His charge that the PM’s deal won’t “get Brexit done” echoes one of the Lib Dems’ criticisms; and speculation about his next move is distracting attention from the Tory campaign. As he showed by securing an interview with “Donald from Washington” on his radio phone-in show last week, “Farage knows exactly how to milk the moment”. The bad news for the PM is that Corbyn does too. The sight of him whipping up chants of “not for sale” at a rally this week “should ring alarm bells among Tory strategists”.