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NIGEL FARAGE today urged PM Boris Johnson to drop his EU withdrawal agreement and form a “Leave alliance” with the Brexit Party, saying he would otherwise field a candidate to contest every seat in Britain, which could split the pro-Brexit vote.
But No 10 poured cold water on the idea this evening.
The Brexit Party leader, during the launch of his snap general election campaign today, said that the Prime Minister’s plans for leaving the EU did not represent a true withdrawal and that Britain should leave on World Trade Organisation (WTO) terms.
His comments also came a day after the government’s much-touted October 31 deadline for leaving the EU had passed, after Mr Johnson was forced by law to seek an extension to Article 50 from Brussels.
Mr Farage added that if the Tories did not agree to a pact within two weeks and abandon the deal — passed at second reading in the Commons — he would make sure “every house on this land” is aware it was a Brexit “sell-out.”
He added that his party was “in communication” with a number of Tory MPs who were viewed as “friends, not enemies” for being “prepared to renounce” the withdrawal agreement and stand “on a ticket of a genuine free trade agreement or leave on WTO terms.”
His offer to Mr Johnson came after US President Donald Trump appeared to call for a pact between the pair, saying that they could become an “unstoppable force” in the snap general election expected to be held next month.
Mr Trump blasted Mr Johnson’s EU withdrawal Bill, saying that it prevents Britain from striking a full trade deal with the US.
He said: “To be honest with you … under certain aspects of the deal … you can’t do it, you can’t do it, you can’t trade.”
A No 10 spokesman rejected this claim, saying that the withdrawal agreement allows Britain to “do trade deals with any country we choose.”
Shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner said that Mr Trump wanted Britain in a “weak position” after Brexit in order to take advantage.
“A Labour government will not roll over and have its tummy tickled by Donald Trump,” he said.
“We would stand up robustly to him over the issues of the NHS and the drug pricing that they want to increase.”
