Nigel
Farage has backed Boris Johnson’s bid to succeed David Cameron if
Britain votes to quit the EU – and held out the prospect of working for
‘Prime Minister’ Boris.
The
Ukip leader compared fellow anti-European Johnson to former US
President Ronald Reagan – and said he would be a much better leader than
‘pro-Brussels fanatic’ Cameron.
In
his first major interview since it was announced that he will take on
Cameron in a TV debate on the EU, Farage admitted he was a ‘Boris fan’ –
while branding Cameron ‘devious’.
Nigel Farage speaking to Mail on
Sunday political editor Simon Walters. The Ukip leader has backed Boris
Johnson to succeed David Cameron as PM if Britain quits the EU
If
Britain votes to leave Brussels on June 23, it would almost certainly
lead to the Prime Minister’s resignation – and clear the path to No 10
for Johnson.
Farage
will speak first in the TV debate, at Cameron’s insistence, but says he
plans to turn that to his advantage by ‘planting ideas’ in the minds of
the audience in the hope that they will challenge Cameron over them.
Farage called it ‘laying some grenades’. They will include his
assertions that:
- Unless we leave the EU, ‘millions more’ immigrants will come from Turkey, Albania, Kosovo and other countries;
- The proposed European army is more likely to trigger a Third World War than Britain leaving the EU, as claimed by Cameron;
- Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne want to stay in the Eu because mass immigration means 'cheaper nannies and chauffeurs;
- Barack Obama's call for the UK to vote to stay in the EU had backfired because of the President's 'nasty, lip-curling, anti-British' behaviour.
Farage
rejected claims Johnson is ‘not serious enough’ to run the country,
saying: ‘Boris goes on surprising people. They say he can’t do this,
he’s a joker – it’s like Ronnie Reagan. Could he do it? Yes. If you’d
asked me six months ago I’d have said no but I’ve changed my mind.’
The Ukip leader compared fellow anti-European Boris Johnson, pictured, to former US President Ronald Reagan
Asked
if he would like to work for Johnson if the Brexit camp wins and Johnson
succeeds Cameron in No 10, Farage said: ‘I love Boris, respect him,
admire him; I’m a Boris fan. Could I work for him? Yes. Could I see a
scenario if he was PM and he asked me to do something? I wouldn’t rule
it out.’
Farage
said Cameron was ‘devious, lying and cowardly’ – though it didn’t stop
him doing a secret deal with the PM to take part in an ITV debate on
June 7. The coup enraged Johnson, who was desperate to take on the Prime
Minister himself.
Farage
said the Tory-run Vote Leave campaign were scared that if he thrashed
Cameron in the debate he would get the credit for winning the referendum
– not Johnson. ‘They’re terrified if I play a big role, what happens
after the referendum, could I nick a third of their voters?’
He
was equally dismissive of ‘idiotic’ pleas by Johnson’s supporters to
‘tone down’ his comments on immigration for fear it could ‘turn off’
moderate voters. ‘You ain’t seen nothing yet,’ said a defiant Farage.
David Cameron campaigning in his constituency to remain in the EU. Farage branded the PM as devious
Mr
Farage’s immigration warning is reinforced today by former Archbishop
of Canterbury George Carey, who says Britain should leave the EU as
membership has led to a ‘dangerous level of uncontrolled immigration’.
Writing
in The Mail on Sunday, Dr Carey says: ‘Many Christians believe that our
relationship to the EU is analogous to divorce… but there comes a time
when such harm is taking place within the marriage that there is no
choice but to end it.’
But
Cameron yesterday warned Brexit would be disastrous for the economy,
saying: ‘If we vote to leave we will be voting for higher prices, we
will be voting for fewer jobs, we will be voting for lower growth, we
will be voting potentially for a recession.’
No
10 believes the Remain camp will win with 58 per cent of the vote –
despite polls showing both sides are neck-and-neck – because of fears
over the economy.
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