Brexit Party MEP: Chances of UK Leaving EU on Oct 31 ‘Remote’ Because of Tories

COVENTRY, ENGLAND - APRIL 12: Ben Habib speaks at the launch of the Brexit Party at BG Pen
Matthew Lewis/Getty
Victoria Friedman

Newly-elected Brexit Party MEP for London Ben Habib has said the possibility of Brexit being delivered by October 31st is “remote” because the governing Tory Party is dominated by Remainers.

Sky News’s Adam Boulton asked the businessman-turned-politician if the Brexit Party would still have a purpose if the Conservative-led government delivered Brexit by the twice-delayed deadline of October 31st.

“If Brexit is delivered by the 31st of October, to a very significant extent we will have achieved what we set out to achieve,” Mr Habib said on Friday, adding however that Nigel Farage and the Brexit Party have other aims, namely changing British politics.

“We wouldn’t have ‘changed politics for good’,” Mr Habib continued, “We would have got Brexit over the line. I think Parliament needs a good shake-up.”

The MEP then expressed his doubt that Brexit would be delivered by then, saying: “I think that the chances of leaving on the 31st of October are remote based on what I’m hearing about the Tories.”

“Notwithstanding some of the promises made by the more pro-Brexit orientated candidates to lead the Tory Party, they will find it very hard carrying the rest of the Remainers in the Tory Party towards a no-deal, which is the only thing that is really going to work,” he added.

The warnings that even a pro-Brexit Tory leader and prime minister could fail to deliver Brexit comes as The Sun reports that party Remainers are planning to get behind candidate Boris Johnson because they believe he is “malleable” and could be convinced to push for a soft Brexit or even a second referendum.

One senior minister and Remain supporter, who is reportedly about to declare for Johnson, told the right-wing: “Boris is malleable. Boris will do what is in Boris’s own best interests, as and when the time comes.

“If that means going ahead with a second referendum as the only way through the impasse, then that’s what he will do.

“Some colleagues who don’t see eye to eye with Boris see that as their best opportunity.”

A spokesman for the former foreign secretary said that Mr Johnson would not consider holding a second referendum, saying: “Boris has been very clear with his plans for Brexit. We need to leave on October 31, with or without a deal.”

The report comes as a poll published Friday reveals Mr Johnson as the candidate most likely to win Conservative voters back from the Brexit Party — though with the possibility of Remainers backing “malleable” Johnson in mind, perhaps returning to a Tory Party that will ultimately fail to deliver on the 2016 referendum result.

According to private polling of 48 marginal seats conducted by CTF Partners and reported by The Telegraph, almost half of Tory “defectors” who voted for the Conservative Party in the 2017 General Election said they would return if Mr Johnson became prime minister. The poll also found that six in ten voters who support UKIP or the Brexit Party were more likely to back the Tories if the Vote Leave campaigner were leading the country.

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