Second EU referendum would not be ‘wholly unreasonable’ after Brexit, says Nigel Farage

Brexit Party leader says he will miss being the ‘pantomime villain’ of the European parliament

Britain could hold a second EU referendum after it becomes clear how Brexit has worked out, Nigel Farage has said.

The Brexit Party leader said another vote might not be “wholly unreasonable” once voters had had time to see the effects of the policy.

At a press conference in Brussels ahead of his last European parliament speech, Mr Farage said he would miss being the “pantomime villain” of the EU’s legislature.

“I will miss some of the drama, I will miss being the pantomime villain – the guy that gets up and 500 people start booing,” he said.

“I have got my last speech here this afternoon, so I will do my best if I can to get some audience participation.”

Mr Farage claimed that Brexit was a “victory for grassroots campaigning” in the face of opposition from the “entire UK establishment”.

“Whatever my criticisms may be of the political system in the UK and its need for urgent reform, in the end what this shows is that it still actually works,” he said.

“So, I’m going to be celebrating the fact that democracy and the will of the people has triumphed at 11 o’clock this Friday.”

In January 2018 the Brexiteer previously said he was warming to a second referendum, arguing that it could “kill off” the issue for a generation.

But following last year’s election there appears to be little immediate enthusiasm for rejoining the EU among the leaders of the Remain movement.

MEPs who previously campaigned to stop Brexit have told The Independent that their focus is on highlighting the problems caused by Britain’s exit – and that rejoining would be further down the road.

British MEPs are sitting for the last time in the European parliament on Wednesday, and they will stop becoming MEPs at midnight Brussels time on Friday, when Britain formally leaves the EU.

Many senior EU figures and leaders of member states have said the bloc’s door would remain open for Britain if it ever wanted to rejoin.