Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has warned that Andy Burnham could be the biggest threat to Brexit yet if he replaces Keir Starmer as Labour leader.
Speaking to the Daily Express ahead of today’s Makerfield by-election, Farage said Burnham - Labour’s candidate in the Makerfield by-election - could take Britain closer to EU control and “unpick” Brexit, after Burnham had previously expressed a desire for the UK to rejoin the EU within his lifetime.
“Starmer was a threat to Brexit, the whole Labour government’s a threat to Brexit”, Farage said. “They’ve never, ever accepted it. They fought against the will of the people.” Under Burnham, Farage warned, that will only get worse.
Labour is already “realigning us with various parts of the European project, taking away our choices in a number of areas” - and Burnham could “possibly take that further.”
Reflecting on the state of Brexit 10 years after the 2016 referendum, Farage said: “We know it’s not the perfect Brexit, but we’re out. Constitutionally, we are out and it’s not going to get reversed.”
“We’re not going to rejoin, not even any attempt to rejoin”, he said. “They [the EU] would demand terms such as a cast-iron commitment to join the euro.”
“Free movement isn’t going to happen, it’s politically impossible. It would be an electoral catastrophe.”
But Farage also pointed out that successive governments had failed to make the most of Brexit, particularly when it comes to immigration. “We had the freedom to do something about it, but we chose to do the opposite, and that’s angered people”, he said. Despite that, “In the world we [Britain] stand a bit taller because of Brexit.”
Farage now thinks that we have just 10 years to save Britain: “Otherwise, within a decade, we will be a third world country.” It will be a difficult task, but not impossible, he said. “Constitutionally, we have these freedoms and we can put it right. We need to make Britain, Britain again.”
Speaking to the Daily Express ahead of today’s Makerfield by-election, Farage said Burnham - Labour’s candidate in the Makerfield by-election - could take Britain closer to EU control and “unpick” Brexit, after Burnham had previously expressed a desire for the UK to rejoin the EU within his lifetime.
“Starmer was a threat to Brexit, the whole Labour government’s a threat to Brexit”, Farage said. “They’ve never, ever accepted it. They fought against the will of the people.” Under Burnham, Farage warned, that will only get worse.
Labour is already “realigning us with various parts of the European project, taking away our choices in a number of areas” - and Burnham could “possibly take that further.”
Reflecting on the state of Brexit 10 years after the 2016 referendum, Farage said: “We know it’s not the perfect Brexit, but we’re out. Constitutionally, we are out and it’s not going to get reversed.”
“We’re not going to rejoin, not even any attempt to rejoin”, he said. “They [the EU] would demand terms such as a cast-iron commitment to join the euro.”
“Free movement isn’t going to happen, it’s politically impossible. It would be an electoral catastrophe.”
But Farage also pointed out that successive governments had failed to make the most of Brexit, particularly when it comes to immigration. “We had the freedom to do something about it, but we chose to do the opposite, and that’s angered people”, he said. Despite that, “In the world we [Britain] stand a bit taller because of Brexit.”
Farage now thinks that we have just 10 years to save Britain: “Otherwise, within a decade, we will be a third world country.” It will be a difficult task, but not impossible, he said. “Constitutionally, we have these freedoms and we can put it right. We need to make Britain, Britain again.”
