Nigel Farage has predicted Boris Johnson will get Britain an EU trade deal – it just will not be one Brexiteers want.
The Brexit Party leader said he had a “sense” the government would compromise over fishing rights and state aid to bag a deal with the EU before the end of the transition period.
“I sense from the government’s language over the course of the last few days – one or two things they’ve said about fisheries, some of the comments from Ursula von der Leyen yesterday reminding Boris Johnson and the government that we did sign a new European treaty last year called the Withdrawal Agreement.
“I sense there will be a compromise, that there will be a deal by the end of the year and it’s one that will not fully satisfy many Brexiteers.”
Asked if that meant he could re-enter the politics, Farage said: “Let’s see where we go with this. If they completely drop the ball on Brexit, if we finish up stuck with a level playing field, unable to be competitive, then there are more battles to be fought.”
Nigel Farage predicts Boris Johnson’s EU trade deal won’t sa
Farage’s comments after a joint statement was released by Johnson and von der Leyen emphasising the “importance of finding an agreement, it at all possible,” as a “strong basis” for a future relationship.
The statement read: “They endorsed the assessment of both Chief Negotiators that progress had been made in recent weeks but that significant gaps remained, notably but not only in the areas of fisheries, the level playing field, and governance.
“They instructed their Chief Negotiators to work intensively in order to try to bridge those gaps.
“They agreed to speak on a regular basis on this issue.”
On Friday, Johnson told The Telegraph he was “optimistic” about a trade deal being struck by October 15, the date the prime minister pledged to walk away from talks.
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