Nigel Farage and Brexiteer Tories in talks over possible election pact
2 min read
Members of the European Research Group (ERG) have entered “tentative” discussions with the Brexit Party leader over a potential alliance.
According to The Telegraph, a number of Brexiteer MPs have met with Nigel Farage amid concerns that the Conservatives would not secure a significant majority in a snap election.
Many of them fear, however, that the Prime Minister’s chief strategist, Dominic Cummings, would block such a pact as he refused to join forces with Mr Farage during the Vote Leave campaign.
One well-placed source said: “There have been conversations between the Brexit Party and the ERG. Not just with Farage but also at a local level.
“The feeling is that it would be mad to let the Remainers do an alliance but not the Brexiteers."
The source also added that the party should learn from the mistakes of the referendum campaign, when the official Vote Leave campaign refused to work with Nigel Farage’s Leave.EU group.
Meanwhile, the Brexit Party took out a full-page advertisement in The Telegraph today, outlining an election offer from Mr Farage to the Prime Minister.
In it, Mr Farage urged Mr Johnson to deliver a “clean-break Brexit” on Oct 31 rather than “a reheated version of Theresa May’s appalling Withdrawal Agreement”.
The Brexit Party leader also added: “If Mr Johnson commits to a clean-break Brexit we are ready to back him, by fighting our electoral battles selectively and targeting the Remainer establishment.
“To get Brexit, we will have to defeat Jeremy Corbyn’s Remainer Labour Party. The Brexit Party stands by far the best chance of beating Labour in many seats nationwide.
“Together we would be unstoppable, rout the Remainers and deliver a large Brexit majority in Parliament. If Boris seizes this opportunity, he can be a hero.”
However, its likely Mr Cummings would block any deal with the Brexit Party, with one Tory source adding: “Cummings is the obstacle to a deal between Boris and Nigel.
“Boris and Nigel did speak during the referendum campaign and got on, but Cummings doesn’t like Nigel. There’s an intellectual snobbery there.”
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