The Brexit party winning the most votes in this month’s European elections would require parliament to reconsider the idea of a no-deal departure from the EU, Nigel Farage has said, adding that Conservative and Labour MPs are “fearful” of his group.
On a campaigning trip to Lincoln the former Ukip leader reiterated his belief that the new party should be somehow represented in Brexit talks if, as polls predict, it tops the vote tally on 23 May.
Asked by reporters what winning the most votes would mean, Farage said: “It puts a no-deal Brexit back on the table.
“Parliament has taken it off the table. Our voters say, put it back on the table, and if we win, we will demand representation with the government at the next stage of negotiations.
“We have a deadline now of 31 October and we want to make sure, our voters want to make sure, that, actually, no deal is being seriously thought about.”
In March, MPs voted to reject the idea of leaving the EU without any departure deal in place, something the government has warned could have significant short-term repercussions and which business groups say could harm the economy.
While some pro-Brexit campaigners have argued no deal is now the most popular outcome among voters, polling shows opinion is divided and that the response depends on how the issue is phrased.
Farage said that if Brexit was not in place by the extended deadline of 31 October, there should be a general election, and he predicted that his party would do well.
“There’ll be huge numbers of Labour and Tories MPs fearful as to whether they can hold on to their seats. That might just concentrate their minds,” he said.
“But the real question is, of those that vote for us in a European election, how many would repeat that in a general election. And the indications I’m getting is: an awful lot of them. And that would mean we’d be at the level where the Brexit party could start to win serious numbers of seats.”
Joining Farage in Lincoln was one of his party’s European election candidates, Annunziata Rees-Mogg, the sister of the Conservative Brexiter Jacob.
Asked about her decision to leave the Conservatives, she said: “My brother and I do talk about things. He knows that my views are extremely strong and I’ve been committed to being a Eurosceptic for decades. And he knew I wouldn’t change my mind on the best way to proceed.
“However, amongst Tory party membership, I’m not losing friends, I’m gaining them. They’re coming with me, because they know they’ve been abandoned by their party, as have Labour people, who haven’t delivered on their manifesto either.”
