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| General election 2019: Farage calls on Johnson to 'build Leave alliance' | General election 2019: Farage calls on Johnson to 'build Leave alliance' |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Nigel Farage has called on Boris Johnson to ditch his Brexit deal and "build a Leave alliance". | Nigel Farage has called on Boris Johnson to ditch his Brexit deal and "build a Leave alliance". |
| At the launch of the Brexit Party's election campaign, the leader said bringing the parties together was "the only way" forward. | At the launch of the Brexit Party's election campaign, the leader said bringing the parties together was "the only way" forward. |
| But he warned Mr Johnson that if he turned down his offer, the party would field candidates in "every single seat" in England, Scotland and Wales. | |
| The Conservatives have consistently ruled out a formal pact with the party. | The Conservatives have consistently ruled out a formal pact with the party. |
| It comes after President Donald Trump said Mr Farage and Boris Johnson should team up as "an unstoppable force". | |
| Mr Johnson negotiated a deal with the EU and tried to get it through Parliament in three days to pass it before the Brexit deadline of 31 October. | |
| However, while MPs voted it through its first hurdle in the Commons, they voted against the short timetable - leading to a three month delay to the deadline. | |
| Mr Farage has been critical of Mr Johnson's failure to deliver on his promise that the UK would leave by Halloween. | |
| He used the launch to condemn the PM's deal, urging him to "drop [it] because it is not Brexit". | |
| Instead, Mr Farage urged him to pursue a free trade agreement with the EU - similar to the deal the bloc has with Canada - and to impose a new deadline of 1 July 2020 to get it signed off. | |
| If an agreement was not done by then, the UK should leave the EU without a deal and move to World Trade Organisation trading rules. | |
| "I would view that as totally reasonable," he said. "That really would be Brexit." | |
| But Mr Farage said if Mr Johnson did not pursue the route, the Brexit Party would contest every seat in the country - with 500 candidates ready to sign the forms to stand on Monday. | |
| "The Brexit Party would be the only party standing at these elections that actually represents Brexit," he said. | |
| Labour targets | |
| The party leader also attacked Labour for a "complete and utter betrayal on Brexit" - and said his party would target Labour seats in the Midlands and North of England. | |
| He said Labour's plan to renegotiate a deal then put it to a referendum was offering a choice of "remain or effectively remain". | |
| Mr Farage said there were five million Labour voters who had supported Leave in the 2016 EU referendum, meaning his party "posed a very major problem" for Jeremy Corbyn. | |
| "So many Labour Leave seats are represented by Remain members of Parliament," he said. "We view those constituencies around the country among our top targets." | |
| He ridiculed the reported Conservative plan to target "Workington man" - Leave-supporting traditional Labour voters in northern towns - saying Tories needed get out of London more. |