After Nigel Farage expressed renewed optimism in the direction of Brexit and the governing Tory Party, Prime Minister Boris Johnson extinguished hopes of a clean break by ruling out a no-deal election platform.
Veteran pro-sovereignty campaigner and Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage had said he was “feeling more optimistic about Brexit than I have for a long time” after Boris Johnson’s efforts to negotiate a watered-down version of Theresa May’s soft withdrawal treaty appeared to peter out, leaving a full, genuine break with the European Union as the only way forward.
Brexiteers like Nigel Farage had long maintained an exit on the May withdrawal treaty’s terms would be tantamount to a surrender to the EU, and much less desirable than a no-deal break ending the supremacy of the EU’s laws, courts, rules, and regulations.
Writing in response to a Downing Street briefing released earlier this week which portrayed a full, no-deal Brexit as a certainty overnight, Farage said he “welcome[d] the Prime Minister standing up to German bullying and showing genuine determination to get Brexit done. But I don’t trust his party, at all, on this issue.”
Fresh briefings from Downing Street published as Mr Farage’s musings went live seem to appear to suggest he was right to offer that closing disclaimer, as the Prime Minister has moved to mollify Remain-voting Tory MPs by promising he would not explicitly endorse a no-deal Brexit.
The Times reported Thursday that Boris Johnson himself had moved to rule out fighting a general election on the principle of a full, no-deal Brexit if a deal couldn’t be reached, the paper quoting his remarks that he “passionately” wanted to strike a deal and had “no intention” of making a commitment otherwise.
The remarks may indicate that the Prime Minister is moving towards the position once held by Theresa May, of striking a deal at almost any cost.
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