Saturday, 29 Jun 2024

Revealed: Why Nigel Farage’s October 31 prediction will infuriate Brexiteers

The Brexit Party leader said in June he thought “the chances are pretty low” that the Halloween deadline would be adhered to. His comments were made to The Parliament Magazine during the Tory leadership contest that followed Theresa May’s resignation earlier this year. Mr Farage insisted that he did not think any of the candidates had what it takes to deliver Brexit by the deadline, including now Prime Minister Mr Johnson.

He said: “I do not see this happening under any of the Tory Party leadership contenders.

“I do not think any of them will do it by October 31.”

The original exit date – March 29 – came and went after Mrs May negotiated the UK’s first extension to Article 50, and nine further months were given to sort out Brexit.

In the leadership contest, Mr Johnson claimed that he would take the UK out by October 31 – deal or no deal.

However, MPs passed the Benn Act which forced the Prime Minister to request an extension to Article 50 if a deal had not been passed by October 19.

At the eleventh hour, Mr Johnson agreed a deal with the EU and brought it to Parliament during a special Saturday sitting on October 19.

However, the Letwin Amendment prevented MPs from passing a deal without time to allow the full legislation to go through, which then triggered the Benn Act.

This week, EU leaders decided to grant a Brexit extension – dubbed a “flextension” by European Council President Donald Tusk – until January 31.

Mr Farage immediately demanded an apology from the Prime Minister for failing to deliver his pledge.

Speaking on his LBC radio show on Monday, he said: “So to me, all well and good to say ‘we’ll try and leave on October 31, we’ll do our damndest, that’s what I’m aiming for.’

“But to go on saying ‘we are leaving on October 31’, even though he knew it wasn’t true, so he could play a game of saying to the British public – ‘it wasn’t my fault, it was everyone else’ – I don’t think that’s good enough.

“Boris Johnson should apologise for misleading us. That is my view.”

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Now, Mr Farage is hoping to secure Brexit Party seats in the House of Commons in the upcoming general election.

However, reports today suggest that senior figures in the party are split on what the best election strategy is – to stand in every seat or stand aside for Tory Brexiteers.

The Brexit Party chair Richard Tice has said that they have vetted 600 candidates so far and hopes to run in up to 650 seats.

However, other figures in the party are urging to be more strategic in the areas they target.

Brexit Party MEP John Longworth told The Times: “I think we ought to be targeted in terms of the number of seats that we decide to address.

“I can imagine that might be 20 or 30. They would be entirely winnable then if you poured all your resources into them.

“You probably would not get any more if you concentrated on the 600. But you would also get a better result for Brexit too.”

Mr Farage told The Telegraph he is still “working through” his options.

He is likely hoping to capitalise on his party’s success in the European elections, where they won 29 seats with 30.5 percent of the vote, head and shoulders above the other parties.

They crushed the Conservative Party, who came in fifth behind the Liberal Democrats, Labour and even the Green Party with just 4 seats and 8 percent of the vote.

However, with Mr Johnson now at the helm and a clear plan to get his deal through Parliament, they will have to work much harder to convince the public to give them their votes.

Source: Read Full Article

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