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Nigel Farage, the leader of Britain’s Brexit Party, said he would not stand in the next month’s election, choosing instead to campaign countywide against UK prime minister Boris Johnson’s EU divorce deal.
“I have thought very hard about this: How do I serve the cause of Brexit best?” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr on Sunday.
"Do I find a seat and try to get myself into parliament or do I serve the cause better traversing the length and breadth of the United Kingdom supporting 600 candidates, and I've decided the latter course is the right one."
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When asked about the Brexit Party fielding candidates in around 600 seats, Mr Farage said: “I’ve wanted for months for there to be a Leave alliance, it seems obvious to me that no one party can own Brexit voters, there are Tory Brexit voters, there are Brexit Party Brexit voters and a lot of Labour Brexit voters.
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“I always thought that to win an election, get a big majority so we can get a proper Brexit, a coming-together would be the objective.
“I still hope and pray it happens but it doesn’t look like it will.”
The Brexit Party leader went on to say Boris Johnson’s current Brexit plan was not “genuine”.
“If Boris is determined to stick to this new EU treaty, then that is not Brexit,” he said.
“I promise you one thing: if Boris was going for a genuine Brexit, then we wouldn’t need to fight him in this election.” – PA /Reuters