Brexit: Nigel Farage declares victory as Boris Johnson seals UK deal
‘It may not be perfect, but it’s a big step forward’: Nigel Farage says he would vote for Brexit deal ‘in principle’ if he was an MP as UK signs historic trade agreement with the EU
- Nigel Farage announced history had been made as Johnson sealed a Brexit deal
- The leader of the Brexit Party said today was the day ‘people beat the politicians’
- Credited by many as the single most influential figure in making Brexit possible
Nigel Farage has declared victory following the free trade deal agreed by Boris Johnson today- capping off a struggle that has dominated his political life.
The leader of the Brexit Party, who is credited by many as the single most influential figure in making Brexit possible, declared ‘the war is over’ – having advocated the cause ever since he first became involved in politics as a schoolboy.
Mr Farage said the deal as he understood it was ‘not perfect’ and that he was ‘worried that we’re going to be too closely aligned to EU rules’. But he added: ‘If we look at the big picture… it’s a very very big day and a big step forward.’
Earlier, Mr Farage tweeted ‘the people beat the politicians’, and said Mr Johnson would be known as ‘the man that finished the job’, as he marked an incredible turn of fortune from a time when Eurosceptics were considered eccentrics inhabiting the fringes of British politics.
Mr Farage declared ‘the people beat the politicians’, and said Mr Johnson would be known as ‘the man that finished the job’
Mr Farage’s tweet welcoming the Brexit deal after it was announced this afternoon
Asked if he would vote for it if he were an MP, Mr Farage said the Commons should have a vote in principle now and scrutinise the package more closely later. ‘I’d need to see the detail, and I would not want to be bounced,’ he told Sky News.
‘In principle, given where we are right now, given this has been the most divisive issue in British politics… yes in principle I would.’
Mr Farage admitted he was ‘concerned’ some elements of the Brexit deal could hold Britain back but said he was broadly pleased.
He said: ‘Those of us that want Britain to become competitive and global are concerned over what those level paying field provisions mean, and I share all of those concerns, but the point I’m making, is that on the 31st of January this year, and the first of January 2021, we’ve made the big historic break the Brexit wars are over, and there’s no going back and I will at least celebrate that this evening.’
Mr Farage in the European Parliament. He is is credited by many as the single most influential figure in making Brexit possible
‘What, what is beyond doubt, is that with Brexit, we get back something that we used to think was rather valuable, and it’s called democracy, and it means that you can actually vote for people that make your laws and then vote for people who want to get rid of them.’
The Brexit leader also said the deal would mean Britain no longer having to automatically follow EU law.
‘And the biggest problem with the European Union was any single piece of EU law that came into British law,’ he said.
‘There was nothing, the electors could do in a general election, or a parliament could do, even if all 650 of them voted against it we’d literally given away the ability to govern ourselves and Brexit makes us a free country.
‘It makes us a democratic country. It doesn’t by the way mean we’ll get everything right, but it doesn’t least mean we’ll make our own successes and our own failures in the future.’
Boris Johnson (pictured speaking to Ursula von der Leyen by video link today) said the UK could now take advantages of the benefits of Brexit
Considering the reasons behind the Brexit victory, he suggested part of it had to do with culture.
‘I think we actually have a much closer cultural affinity with many parts of the English speaking world than we do with continental Europe and that’s one of the reasons of course, in the end, that we voted for Brexit,’ he said.
‘Boris does his PC bit, plays up the pro European side of things.
‘He of course himself until the referendum came along, had always been a supporter of the European project.
‘I also question what he said about the fact that we got a Canada style deal we haven’t.’
Mr Johnson made history by sealing future trade terms to avert a chaotic split when the transition period ends on January 1, after Lord Frost and Michel Barnier thrashed out a 2,000-page text.
Downing Street said the agreement was ‘fantastic news’ – with Mr Johnson now set to hold a press conference.
