Ann Widdecombe: Boris Johnson Is A "Silly Man" For Rejecting 'Leave Alliance'

2 November 2019, 08:56 | Updated: 2 November 2019, 08:57

The Brexit Party MEP said that Nigel Farage has offered Boris Johnson 'a lifeline' by offering an alliance whereby Brexit Party candidates would stand down for Tory candidates if the party scrap their Brexit deal.

Andrew Pierce spoke to Ann Widdecombe about the reports of Nigel Farage's offer to field candidates in every constituency unless Boris Johnson dropped his deal by November 14th.

He said: "This criticism of that, Ann Widdecombe, is that that could knock a lot of Tory MPs out, it could then be that we get a Labour government, maybe even propped up by the Lib Dems, that A) Brexit is probably dead and buried and also isn't a bad Brexit better than a Jeremy Corbyn government."

Widdecombe replied: "A bad Brexit is not good for the country long after Jeremy Corbyn has disappeared and is a footnote in history.

"So we do have to think of country, not just party, but of course what Nigel Farage did today was to offer Boris a very big lifeline and to say that if he was prepared to contemplate a clean break, and if he was prepared to go to Geneva with Nigel Farage and talk WTO terms, if he was prepared to do all of that, then the Brexit Party would try and ensure that he gets a very healthy majority in the Commons by forming a Leave Alliance.

"We would fight in the Labour heartlands, where the were huge Leave votes, you know, sometimes as much as 70 per cent Leave votes, and they won't vote Tory there. Never, never if you paid them, they wouldn't. They will vote for the Brexit Party.

"So we've offered to do that in order to get him an increased majority in return for that undertaking on the deal now.

I think he is a very silly man indeed if he just brushes that aside, but if he does, he's going to be leading the Charge of the Light Brigade and it won't be done to us, we've made the offer."

Andrew Pierce asked: "So if the result is a Corbyn government, you would be satisfied that you'd made the right choice?"

She replied: "First of all, I didn't believe it would be a Corbyn government because I think the nation is not so daft.

"But secondly, you have to actually ask yourself, what would you prefer? Would you prefer to remain? Would you prefer to leave?

Or would you prefer a deal that masquerades as leave but is actually remain minus a veto minus a voice minus a vote? And frankly, I think that the interests of Britain demand that we oppose that with all our strength."

Andrew Pierce and Ann Widdecombe then spoke of the potential of an unofficial deal between Tories and the Brexit Party.

Widdecombe was "quite sure" that there would be local deals as some Conservatives are already "begging" them not to stand against them.

She added: " I mean, the Remainers are trying to put together a Remain Alliance, it would be much more sensible to have a major Leave Alliance. That's what we're offering and I think only a lemming would turn that down."