Forum Topic

Message From Nigel Farage

"Dear Brexiteer, Today in Hartlepool, I made clear The Brexit Party’s strategy for the General Election. I always said that I would put country before party – and I meant it. We want to stop the Remainers winning enough seats to introduce a second referendum, offering us a false choice between Remain and Remain. That’s why we are not going to contest the 317 seats that the Conservatives won in 2017. For months, I have argued for a Leave alliance. Now we have launched it unilaterally. This will ensure that there will not be a second referendum and that Brexit can finally be delivered.We will though contest every seat held by Corbyn’s Remainer Labour Party, which has openly betrayed five million Labour Leave voters. And we will stand in all seats held by the other Remainer parties. Let me explain how we came to this difficult decision. When Boris Johnson came back with his new EU Treaty, I made no secret of my concerns. Two aspects in particular stood out. First, it did not ‘get Brexit done’ – it would mean at least another three years of agonising negotiations in which EU negotiator Monsieur Barnier would have the upper hand. And second, the Treaty meant we were committing ourselves to regulatory and political alignment with EU rules on everything from our fishing to our financial services.That’s why last week we signed 600 Brexit Party candidate nomination forms, because I felt that in a democracy everybody deserves a genuine choice.Last night, however, I heard something from Boris Johnson that at last made me feel more optimistic. In a video the Prime Minister said that he would not extend the Transition Period beyond the end of 2020 – a huge challenge to Barnier and Juncker.Even more importantly, Boris said that he would seek a ‘super Canada-plus’ free trade deal with the EU, with no political alignment. That is a significant step in the right direction. It starts to look more like the Brexit that 17.4m of us voted for.So, we have decided to give Boris half a chance, and focus on taking the fight to Labour in their Brexit heartlands. It was The Brexit Party that beat Labour here in the May European elections – and we can, with your help, do it again. There are millions of traditional Labour voters waiting for a party that is on their side, that believes in bringing more money and jobs back to the regions, that says we need sensible immigration controls. These are messages that will resonate hard in those Labour Leave areas.How do we hold Boris to his promises? We have to start winning some of those Labour seats, by making Corbyn’s Labour pay for their betrayal of Brexit. Getting MPs into Parliament is the way we can hold Mr Johnson to account. We cannot win those seats without your help. I have no great love for the Conservative Party. But I see stopping the Remainers and their rigged second referendum as the biggest issue facing our country. Our actions today have stopped the Remain alliance in is tracks.The question of trust is key. There can be no real Brexit without The Brexit Party in Parliament to keep Boris honest. And we cannot get there without your help.Thanks for your support. Together we can beat the Remainer alliance and change politics for good. Nigel Farage — Leader of The Brexit Party"

Sue Hammond ● 2557d13 Comments

True, it is speculation on my part. Johnson has acted in an untrustworthy way recently: he prorogued parliament, he misled many about completing Brexit by the end of October and wasted millions on project Yellowhammer when he new he couldn't exit with a no-deal at the end of October, he tried to railroad his withdrawal bill through parliament without scrutiny, he renaged on his promise to the DUP, double crossed Mrs May when she was PM, proved incompetent in the Foreign Office when dealing with Iran, alienated many of his own MPs, wasted huge amounts of money on useless war cannon and the garden bridge when he was London mayor; do I have to continue? I wouldn't trust any promise he's given about the NHS and, if I remember correctly, in the past Farage has suggested placing the NHS with a US style insurance system (although I think he's tried to forget that in an attempt to attract Labour leave voters). Let's hope I'm proved wrong. Anyway, my speculation is based in the fact that if there's a hung parliament Brexit could be delayed further. If another referendum were to arise it's probably going to be six or nine months before any negotiations with the US start. That's getting very close to the end of 2020 and the US presidential election. Now if Trump loses that to the Democrats their first priority, as Obama noted, isn't going to be a trade deal with the UK and they're unlikely to want to assist the purveyors of their expensive healthcare system. So it's not beyond the realms of possibilities that Farage has been warned not to risk upsetting the Tory's chances?

Michael Ixer ● 2556d