Nigel Farage is speaking at the Brexit Party launch now. Huge question is will they stand across the UK, or only in a handful of constituencies? That will shape the election in very different ways.
NF: "Labour are offering a choice of Remain or Remain. For 5 million Labour voters who voted Leave, this represents nothing less than a betrayal."
NF: "There are so many Labour Leave seats represented by Remain MPs. These are our top targets."
NF: "It was the UKIP vote that disproportionately hurt the Labour vote in the 2015 GE."
NF: "What of Boris Johnson's Conservatives? He inherited Theresa May's appalling surrender treaty."
NF: "Boris tells us it's a great new deal. It's not. It's a bad old treaty. It's not Brexit. It's just kicking the can down the road another three years."
NF: "We are aiming for regulatory alignment. Everything from financial services to fisheries would be tied to EU law. That's not taking back control."
NF: "I want to urge Boris Johnson to reconsider the detail in those two deals." Goes on to call out Boris Johnson for lies in Parliament as he tried to "desperately ram his deal through".
NF: "I am going to say this to Boris Johnson: drop the deal. Drop the deal."
NF: "I am willing to compromise too. If Boris Johnson is willing to sign us up for a free trade deal, I would accept that." (Pivots away from "clean break") But if there's no agreement then he wants us to leave on 1 July without a deal.
NF: "I believe that we need to form a Leave Alliance. Not just Tories and Brexit Party, but many Labour MPs in Leave seats would happily sign up to it."
NF: "We want to ensure that every house in this land understands what's in this deal so that everyone understands what a sellout it is."
Nigel Farage claims they're going to contest every seat in England, Scotland and Wales, and that 500 candidates will come to London on Monday next week to sign their candidate forms.
NF: "We also want to campaign for political reform." (Other speakers had talked about proportional representation and reforming the House of Lords.)
Nigel Farage ends with a threat: if Boris Johnson and others are not willing to form a Leave Alliance, they are not afraid to fight all over the country and they're already fully funded for the election.
NF in Q&A indicates that they have until 14 November to make up their minds how many will stand for the Brexit Party (that's the Election Commission deadline for candidate registrations) so he seems to be keeping us all guessing for two weeks.
To be clear, plan seems to be:
1. Sign up 500+ candidates on Monday next week
2. If Leave Alliance forms then a certain proportion of those candidates will withdraw before 14 November (based, I suppose, on the exact shape of the Leave Alliance).
1. Sign up 500+ candidates on Monday next week
2. If Leave Alliance forms then a certain proportion of those candidates will withdraw before 14 November (based, I suppose, on the exact shape of the Leave Alliance).
