Nigel Farage called a 'traitor' after defending EU threat to sue No 10 for breaking Brexit agreement
Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage eats fish and chips in Whitehaven. - Credit: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images.
Nigel Farage has been called a "traitor" after issuing a tweeting defending the EU's threat to sue Downing Street over breaking the Brexit withdrawal agreement.
The Brexit Party leader caused controversy on Thursday when he appeared to suggest the EU was in its rights to take Britain to court after it approved laws explicitly overriding the Withdrawal Agreement.
The government his attempting to push through legislation giving ministers unilateral powers to override key aspects of the UK's Brexit agreement with Brussels concerning the Northern Ireland Protocol.
On Thursday, the president of the European Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen, said the bloc had sent the UK formal notice of infringement proceedings after the government failed to remove the controversial clauses by the end-of-September deadline imposed by the EU.
Responding to a post by the BBC's Katya Adler about the news, Farage tweeted: "The 'oven ready deal' was an international treaty — for the EU Commission, that is like the Bible.
You may also want to watch:
"Whilst the EU always acts in bad faith, all they are doing today is asking Boris to keep his promises. It should never have been signed in the first place."
Comedian James Felton called Farage a "traitor". He tweeted: "Wait I’m confused, I thought siding with the EU made you a traitor."
Most Read
- 1 Minister terminates interview after suggesting public's age and weight to blame for UK's high death toll
- 2 European parliament agrees to add British overseas territories to post-Brexit tax haven blacklist
- 3 This picture of Boris Johnson on the phone to Joe Biden has caused a stir
- 4 Telegraph columnist blames Angela Merkel for Brexit
- 5 Nigel Farage loses nearly 50,000 followers after Twitter suspends QAnon accounts
- 6 Former Brexit Party MEP dies in diving accident in the Bahamas
- 7 Bob Geldof takes swipe at No 10 saying 'lying is second nature' to them
- 8 Brexiteer calls for UK to save Eurostar - by buying it and renaming it 'Britstar'
- 9 The greatest failure of government in our lifetime
- 10 Tory minister admits UK rejected EU's music visa offer in order to 'take back control' of borders
Campaigner Femi wrote: "Hey, Nigel, Remember when you ended up backing Boris Johnson's deal, even though you knew people would rather remain in the EU, proving that this was never about democracy, and that all you've done is engineer this chaos.... Maybe you should be quiet now?"
LBC radio host James O'Brien wrote: "This ludicrous, preening popinjay literally withdrew Brexit 'Party' candidates from Tory-winnable constituencies in order to get *exactly* this treaty signed in the first place. It's not George Orwell writing the script any more. It's Lewis bloody Carroll."
Law and policy commentator David Allen Green said: "Forget Theresa May and Michael Howard - Johnson's conduct is now making even Nigel Farage seem sensible and reasonable."
"If only some bloke hadn't deliberately stood down 300+ candidates so that the Tories could win on a pledge of honouring that deal. I mean that does make them an accomplice to signing it, doesn't it Nige," wrote one user.
Others lapped up the irony of the situation.
Michael Gillett wrote: "Farage is siding with the EU. This means I agree with something Farage has said. I feel like I need a shower now."
Become a Supporter
The New European is proud of its journalism and we hope you are proud of it too. We believe our voice is important - both in representing the pro-EU perspective and also to help rebalance the right wing extremes of much of the UK national press. If you value what we are doing, you can help us by making a contribution to the cost of our journalism.