KEIR Starmer has been challenged to say Brexit was a “disaster” after Nigel Farage made the stunning admission he believed his project had “failed”.
The Labour leader remains “wedded” to the project, the SNP said, adding: “Finally, the architects of Brexit are admitting what we knew all along - Brexit was and always has been a disaster.”
It comes after Farage, the former leader of Ukip, said on BBC’s Newsnight programme on Monday evening that Britain had not “benefitted from Brexit economically”.
He was one of the key driving forces in the Eurosceptic cause securing referendum, as his party leeched votes from the Conservatives, themselves long divided on the European question.
Farage said: “We haven’t actually benefitted from Brexit economically.
“I mean what Brexit has proved, I’m afraid, is that our politicians are about as useless as the commissioners in Brussels were.
‘Brexit has failed’ GB News presenter Nigel Farage admits after he is read a list of negative facts about the UK economy https://t.co/P0zxS1DNGF pic.twitter.com/mUrnHee5mb
— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) May 15, 2023
“We have mismanaged this totally and if you look at simple things, simple things such as takeovers, such as corporation tax, we are driving business away from our country.
“Arguably, now we’re back in control, we’re regulating our own businesses even more than they were as EU members. Brexit has failed.”
It comes amid growing anger from Eurosceptic Tory MPs over how the Government has handled Brexit, with a key pledge to bin thousands of EU laws significantly watered down – prompting fury from Brexiteer MPs.
The SNP said if one of Brexit’s key architects said the project had failed, Starmer could no longer hold onto his “make Brexit work” pledge.
Alyn Smith, the party’s EU accession spokesperson, said: “Finally, the architects of Brexit are admitting what we knew all along – Brexit was and always has been a disaster.
"Despite this, Starmer remains wedded to the failed project, instructing his pro-Brexit Labour Party to ignore the serious economic damage a hard-line withdrawal from the EU has had on Scotland's economy.
"Will Starmer join his Brexiteer colleague, Nigel Farage, and finally admit leaving the EU has been a disaster for Scotland – or will he continue to stick his head in the sand while households, businesses and our economy suffer the consequences?
"Scotland overwhelmingly didn't vote for Brexit. At the next election, the SNP is the only party offering voters in Scotland a route back into the EU with the full powers of an independent European nation."
Labour were approached for comment.
