EU insiders ‘worried sick’ over Farage’s Reform tidal wave and ‘plotting with Starmer’.uk
EXCLUSIVE: The Prime Minister has made no secret of his desire to “reset” relations with the bloc following Brexit, promising a more pragmatic partnership.
Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage (Image: Getty)
Senior Brussels officials are scrambling to shore up ties with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to counter the growing threat of a future Reform UK government led by Nigel Farage, a leading think tank chief has claimed.
With Reform UK riding high in the opinion polls, Frank Furedi, Executive Director of MCC Brussels, said recent remarks made during a European Parliament committee meeting revealed the “panic” gripping senior EU figures over the possibility of Mr Farage becoming PM.
He told Express.co.uk: “It is evident the EU’s parliamentary hacks are clearly worried sick about having to deal with a future Nigel Farage Reform Party Government.
“They are therefore working behind the scenes to make backroom deals with an EU-friendly Keir Starmer regime.”
Mr Furedi added: “The EU is trying to entrench itself while it still has a friend in Downing Street. They know exactly what Farage represents — and it terrifies them.”
Mr Furedi was reacting to comments made by MEPs during a session of the European Parliament’s Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield (EUDS), which recently visited London for talks with British officials, civil servants and parliamentarians.
During the meeting — held on June 23 and broadcast live via the European Parliament’s multimedia platform — MEP Tomas Tobe, a Swedish member of the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), singled out Mr Farage for criticism over comments about cryptocurrency.
He said: “One take… that I do think is worrying… It is extremely important that we don’t end up in a situation where we see political parties in Europe that are financed through crypto.
“That is what we saw — one thing that we learned is that the Reform Party, our former colleague also of this house MEP Farage, now the leader of the Reform Party, now said openly that he opens up to crypto financing.
Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday (Image: Getty)
“That is of course a whole new level when it comes to transparency, and also opportunities for hostile actors outside of the Union to try to influence our democratic process, and I really think we need to keep an eye on this.”
Irish MEP Cynthia Ni Mhurchu, a former RTE broadcaster and member of Renew Europe, went further, warning her colleagues not to underestimate Mr Farage’s resurgence.
She said: “Farage’s political weight and might is growing, just in case you don’t know… but I do think it’s incumbent upon all of us now, whilst we have a window of opportunity with Keir Starmer leading the Government… to actually use this time wisely.
“Go to the UK, take lessons from the UK… and perhaps, as my friend said, go back again when they are a little bit further down the road with their legislation.
Irish MEP Cynthia Ni Mhurchu (Image: Getty)
“But it’s vital that we set up all cooperative ventures and try and get them to fruition before there is a change of government, which I’m not going to pre-empt, but I’m just stating that as a fact — the figures in terms of Nigel Farage’s rise and rise and his party are not looking good for holding the centre.”
Mr Farage, who returned to frontline politics last month, has long been a thorn in the side of the European Parliament, where he served as an MEP for more than 20 years. During that time, he repeatedly clashed with EU leaders, lambasting what he described as a democratic deficit and centralised bureaucracy.
By contrast, Sir Keir has made no secret of his desire to “reset” relations with the bloc following Brexit, promising a more pragmatic partnership.
Ms Ni Mhurchu acknowledged this during the same session, saying: “I think we have lessons to learn, and I think they [the UK] would be willing to share them due to their delicate political state.”
The EUDS committee’s mission to London — which took place on June 5-6 — focused on legislative reforms including the UK’s new Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS), due to come into force later this summer.
Mr Farage himself has made no secret of his disdain for Sir Keir’s attempts to build bridges with the EU, not least when the PM met with all 27 leaders of members states in February in Brussels.
The Clacton MP said: “That was an act of humiliation. It was completely unnecessary, but Starmer went along with it. I think the most alarming thing that came out of last night was the agreement to deepen industrial collaboration. Does that mean we’re joining part of an EU industrial policy?
“Does it mean, in terms of defence, we’re joining their procurement programmes? There are still a lot of unanswered questions, but I didn’t like the language at all. And the very fact that he was there discussing such things shows you that our Prime Minister is a Rejoiner at heart.”
Speaking on GB News on Tuesday, Mr Farage also voiced his concerns about Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to the UK, during which the French President said he was glad “Brexit is behind us”.
Mr Farage commented: “President Macron of France is here on a state visit. He is the first leader of a European union country to have a state visit since the country voted for Brexit nine years ago. And boy, aren’t they rolling out the red carpet for him!”
