Brexit deal would not ‘break spell’ of Nigel Farage, MP warns

Nigel Farage at the launch of the Brexit Party in central London. Photograph: Victoria Jones/PA Wire. - Credit: PA

A customs union deal would not ‘break the spell’ that Nigel Farage has cast on British politics, an MP has warned.

It comes at the launch of a new report which claims that there would be an £80 billion hit to national income and a £13 billion cut to money for public services, even if the UK leaves the EU with a customs union deal.

Conservative MP and People’s Vote campaigner Sam Gyimah said that even if the Conservatives and Labour agree a customs union deal, it would do little to reduce the support for Nigel Farage’s new Brexit Party.

He said: “I fear that even if the Government and Labour can agree a customs union deal, it will do nothing to break the spell that Nigel Farage has currently cast on British politics.

“The report shows that, far from solving this deeply vexed question… a deal that results in people being poorer and having less control is hardly a solution to the crisis we face.

“The only argument he has standing is that there was a vote and we cannot go back on that vote, but nobody is saying go back on that vote, we are saying… give the people a final say” he told Press Association.

Gyimah also accused Farage of “selling people unicorns” but warned people not to read too much into the European election results and believes the Brexit Party would not receive large support in a general election.

He added: “In 2015, there was a general election and Nigel Farage could not even get himself elected to Parliament. UKIP went from 27% to 12% of the vote.”

Labour MP Rachel Reeves also criticised Farage for his impact on British politics and said: “I think what damages democracy is false promises and lies, something propagated by Nigel Farage and his followers for many years.”

Change UK MP Sarah Wollaston, who chairs Westminster’s health committee, also said: “It’s very hard to imagine a scenario in healthcare where you would wheel someone into the operating theatre for that kind of major surgery based on a vague consent form signed by the public two years ago.

“We need to go back to the public and say, ‘Is this what you really want or would you rather stick with the far better deal that we already have?'”