Boris Johnson rules out election pact with Nigel Farage as he defends his ‘proper Brexit’ deal
3 min read
Boris Johnson has ruled out a general election pact with Nigel Farage and insisted that his withdrawal agreement would deliver a “proper Brexit”.
The Prime Minister said his deal presents “exactly” what Britain voted for in 2016 following the Brexit Party leader’s barb that it amounted to a “sellout”.
The MEP insisted that his outfit would be prepared to stand down dozens of its candidates in Conservative target seats for the 12 December poll if Mr Johnson agreed to dump the deal.
Addressing the PM at his party's campaign launch, Mr Farage said: "Drop the deal. Drop the deal because it is not Brexit. Drop the deal because as these weeks go by and people discover what it is you've signed up to, they will not like it."
He added that he would back a "Leave alliance" if the PM pursued "a genuine free trade agreement" with the EU, and ditched the "continued jurisdiction of the ECJ".
But hitting back at the former Ukip chief, Mr Johnson told Sky News: "I've ruled out a pact with everybody because I don't think it's sensible to do that."
"We're proud of our beliefs, we're proud of our one nation conservatism."
In a separate interview with the BBC, he added on his deal: "It is a proper Brexit. It delivers exactly what we wanted, what I wanted, what I campaigned in 2016 to come out of the European Union."
"It takes back control of our money, our borders, our laws. It enables us to do proper all singing all dancing free trade deals around the world - but as one whole United Kingdom - so it's got everything that you could possibly want and... it is ready.”
When pressed on whether there were any circumstances under which he would work with Mr Farage, he responded: "I will be very, very clear that voting for any other party than this government, this Conservative government, this One Nation Conservative Government is basically tantamount to putting Jeremy Corbyn in… there are lots of reasons why I think that's a disaster - but on the Brexit front what it means is that suddenly you're back into a renegotiation."
The PM also refused to be drawn on Donald Trump’s suggestion that the withdrawal agreement could block a trade deal with the United States.
The President told Mr Farage on his LBC show that he was concerned about "certain aspects" of the deal and that Mr Johnson needed "to be very careful" so as not to rule out an agreement being struck.
Mr Johnson responded: "Well, I don't wish to comment on what he may or may not have... what I'm telling you is what everybody can see from the terms of the deal that we did, which is a great deal, not just for business and for families but it gives this country certainty, it means that if we can get it over line by, with this election, in the middle of January, then we'll have it done."
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
