Farage ‘could ruin UK’S hope of Brexit’

Tory Eurosceptics accuse Brexit Party leader of setting out to create a hung parliament

NIGEL FARAGE risks becoming the “man who threw away Brexit”, the most senior Tory Eurosceptic backbencher has warned, as the Brexit Party leader prepares to unveil his 600 election candidates.

In a blistering attack on Mr Farage, Steve Baker, the chairman of the European Research Group (ERG), accused him of “setting out” to create a “weak and indecisive” hung Parliament.

The former Brexit minister, who until now has been closely aligned with Mr Farage on Brexit, also condemned his decision not to stand as an MP, saying it showed he was “not serious about governing the country”.

Senior Brexit Party figures have expressed concerns Mr Farage has “gone down the wrong path”, The Daily Telegraph has learnt, fearing his approach risks derailing Britain’s attempts to leave the European Union.

Mr Farage, who will be joined by party candidates in central London today, pledged to press ahead with plans to contest almost every seat in the forthcoming election, insisting that the deal struck with the EU by Boris Johnson was a “gigantic con”.

But he announced he would not seek election for an eighth time, insisting he could better serve the Brexit cause by “traversing the length and breadth” of the country instead of concentrating his efforts on one seat.

Mr Farage added that whilst he had set out to form a “Leave alliance” with the Conservatives, he believed that Mr Johnson’s deal was a “Remainer’s Brexit” that was “virtually worse than staying where we are”.

“If Boris was going for a genuine Brexit, then we wouldn’t need to fight him in this election,” he told The Andrew Marr Show on BBC One yesterday. “If we go through this route we will finish up rejoining.”

Hitting back, Mr Baker, who earlier this year described himself as a “Brexit hardman”, told The Telegraph last night:

“Nigel Farage’s critique [of the Brexit deal] is wrong. Whilst there are some compromises people like me have to swallow, Boris’s deal is a path to a great future. But we will not succeed if Nigel Farage creates a hung parliament by dogmatically pursuing purity.

“That’s the irony of Nigel Farage. He risks being the man who hands Boris a weak and indecisive Parliament, and bringing about, therefore, his own worst fears.

“He is plainly setting out to create a hung Parliament which would lead to more indecision and delay. Whatever Nigel’s motives, he risks being the man who threw away Brexit.”

In a personal rebuke, Mr Baker added that if Mr Farage was “serious about getting us out of the EU he would stand for Parliament. I am flabbergasted he is not standing.”

In an article in The Telegraph today, Martin Howe, a leading QC, addressed the Brexit Party leader, saying: “Nigel, you have spent a long time fighting the EU as a guerrilla in the mountains.

“It is now time for you and your party to come down from the mountains and lend your strength to Boris’s Conservative army which will bring us to ultimate victory in this war.”

James Cleverly, the Conservative Party chairman, said Mr Farage had “admitted that a vote for the Brexit Party risks letting Corbyn in through the back door, creating another gridlocked hung Parliament that doesn’t work”.

It comes after Arron Banks, the former Ukip donor, accused Mr Farage of being a “dog in the manger” about Mr Johnson’s deal, saying his intention to field so many candidates was the “wrong thing to do”.

And in comments in a new book by

‘That’s the irony of Nigel. Whatever his motives, he risks being the man who threw away Brexit’

Antonello Guerrera, an Italian journalist, Mr Banks said of Mr Farage: “He’s not a politician… he’s more a kind of religious preacher. He wants people to follow him but I don’t think he would want to be in Parliament.”

In an effort to distance the Conservatives from the Brexit Party, Rishi Sunak, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said the Tories would take a no-deal exit off the table in the party’s general election manifesto.

In an interview with a Sunday newspaper, Mr Johnson indicated he would like to see the powers of the Supreme Court curbed if the Tories win the election.

The Prime Minister said he wanted to “settle the relationship” between the highest court in the land and the Government after it ruled he had unlawfully prorogued Parliament in September.

Last night, Donald Trump, the US president, repeated his suggestion that he wants “Boris and Nigel to come together”. Speaking to reporters in Washington, he also reiterated his warning over the ramifications of the agreement reached between the Prime Minister and the EU.

In what will be seen as an endorsement of Mr Farage’s misgivings about the deal, he warned that it could jeopardise any trade agreement with the US.