Ukip chief Henry Bolton dismisses Nigel Farage calls for second Brexit referendum
2 min read
Ukip leader Henry Bolton has dismissed Nigel Farage’s suggestion that a second vote on whether Britain quits the EU could be held in a bid to silence Remain-supporting critics.
Earlier today former Ukip leader Mr Farage said another vote might be the only way to stop figures like Tony Blair, Nick Clegg and Lord Adonis from “whinging and whining and moaning all the way through this process”.
His successor responded however, saying that another referendum would be “damaging to the nation” by undermining the country's verdict in June 2016.
"I am convinced that the Leave side would win a second referendum, should one be held, with an even larger majority than before,” he said in a statement.
He added: "Nonetheless, to hold such a referendum would be to call into question the decisive importance of the largest democratic exercise ever held by this country and the unambiguous mandate the people gave the government on that day - the mandate take us out of the European Union.
“Such a second referendum would set a precedent for revisiting any democratic decision made in future; it would undermine the fabric of our democratic principles and would weaken the clarity and effectiveness of democratic decision.
"A second referendum would be damaging to the nation."
Ukip's leader in Wales, the former Conservative minister Neil Hamilton, also rejected the ex-leader’s calls and said he thought he was “just being mischievous”.
Their comments follow Mr Farage’s appearance on Channel 5’s The Wright Stuff, where he said: “My mind is actually changing on this...
"I think if we had a second referendum on EU membership we’d kill it off for a generation. The percentage that would vote to leave next time would be very much bigger than it was last time round.
“We may well just finish the whole thing off and Blair can disappear off to total obscurity.”
Arron Banks, the co-founder of the Leave.EU campaign and a major Ukip donor backed his ally’s call for a fresh vote.
“If we do not act radically now, we will sleepwalk into a faux Brexit, in name only,” he said.
“True Brexiteers have been backed into a corner and the only option now is to go back to the polls and let the people shout from the rooftops their support of a true Brexit...
“Leave would win by a landslide. The Tories don’t want to do what the electorate have instructed. Perhaps we need to shout louder.”
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