Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party doesn’t have any policies. Except one. A vote for the Brexit Party is a vote to crash out of the EU. Though Farage likes to talk about a “WTO Brexit”, this means leaving the EU without a divorce deal and triggering chaos. Pro-Europeans must turn out in force on May 23 to stop his ploy gaining democratic credibility.
Because that’s what Farage is trying to do. He knows that the 2016 referendum was not a straight vote to crash out on WTO rules. During that campaign, he suggested Norway, which has a very close relationship with the EU, was “rich and happy and successful” and had a model worth following.
Having seen polling suggesting the Brexit Party could do well, Farage is now trying to turn that into “democratic legitimacy” for the hardest Brexit possible. That includes a call for his party to “have a say in how we proceed from here”.
Farage says the Brexit Party is all about “honesty”. But he’s not being honest about what a “WTO Brexit” actually means. He dodged questions about this at a press conference yesterday.
What about the hit to the economy and jobs? What about a hard Irish border, jeopardising the peace process (does he even care)? What about the devil’s choice to be made on tariffs, between higher prices in shops or letting our farmers go bust? What about the impact on the fishing communities Farage claims to champion? And what about the fact his friend Donald Trump is doing his best to undermine the WTO at every turn? In future, journalists must press him hard on these questions.
This challenge may be more urgent than it seems. While no-deal Brexit has been rejected several times by MPs, it is still one of three possible outcomes to the Brexit process: leave with a deal, leave with no deal or don’t leave at all.
The idea of “no deal” often polls better with the public than the government’s deal – though it still trails behind staying in the EU. Farage is trying to capitalise on public desire to just get Brexit over with, no matter how. Crashing out looks unlikely today, but who knows where we’ll be after months more political turmoil and the possibility of a general election.
Pro-Europeans must turn out in huge numbers on May 23 to vote for the parties which strongly back a public vote on Brexit – Greens, Lib Dems, Change UK, SNP, Plaid Cymru. We need to take the wind out of Farage’s sails now before his dishonest yet crisp messages can take root.