Nigel Farage would rather delay Brexit than leave under Boris's new deal
Nigel Farage says he would rather delay Brexit than leave the European Union under Boris Johnson’s new deal.
Negotiators from the UK and the EU reached a draft Brexit deal in 11th-hour talks on Thursday after a last-minute concession by Boris Johnson over the issue of the Northern Irish border.
“We have a great new Brexit deal,” the Prime Minister tweeted.
He said he is confident MPs will want to vote for his new Brexit deal on Saturday, although there are serious doubts that the agreement will be approved by Parliament.
Farage said he thinks the deal will fail to get Parliament backing and it is “essentially very bad for the UK” and “just not Brexit”.
The Brexit Party leader told Sky News today: “I would much rather we had an extension and a chance of a general election than accept this dreadful new EU treaty.”
He also told the BBC: “I would very much like us to leave on October 31 but I understand that the Benn Act has been passed and that makes it impossible.
"But would I rather accept a new European treaty that is frankly very bad for us or would I prefer to have an extension and a general election?
"I would always go for the latter option.
“I genuinely believe that a clean break and being able to be competitive is the absolute key to our future economic success,” he said.
“We cannot do that with this new treaty."
The Withdrawal Agreement, which was also approved by EU leaders at their summit on Thursday, needs to be passed by Parliament at the weekend.
The main protocol on Northern Ireland states that it will remain aligned to the EU from the end of the transition period for at least four years.
A spokesman for Mr Johnson said the deal gets rid of the backstop - the "insurance policy" to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland which saw Theresa May's version of the deal defeated several times in the House of Commons.
A change can only happen if it is voted on by the Northern Ireland assembly.
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However, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) have confirmed they will vote against Mr Johnson’s Brexit deal.
The DUP said their earlier statement "still stands", meaning Mr Johnson has no guarantees he will pass his plan in Parliament this weekend.
The party said in a statement: “Following confirmation from the Prime Minister that he believes he has secured a ‘great new deal’ with the European Union the Democratic Unionist Party will be unable to support these proposals in Parliament.
“The Democratic Unionist Party has worked since the referendum result to secure a negotiated deal as we leave the European Union.
“We have been consistent that we will only ever consider supporting arrangements that are in Northern Ireland’s long-term economic and constitutional interests and protect the integrity of the Union.”
The DUP objects to the idea of a customs border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, as well as the issues of consent regarding the suspended Stormont Assembly.
