NICOLA Sturgeon has warned Scotland’s future is in danger of being decided by Nigel Farage after an “extreme” right-wing General Election pact was struck between the Brexit Party and Boris Johnson’s Tories.
The SNP leader spoke out after Farage announced yesterday that his party will not put up candidates in the 317 constituencies won by the Tories in 2017, in a bid to help Johnson take more seats.
Responding to the news, Sturgeon, who was on the campaign trail in Aberdeen, said Farage and Johnson were now “joined at the hip” and urged Scottish voters to back the SNP, warning: “If you vote Tory, you get the Brexit Party.”
Sturgeon tweeted: “The Tory Party has now effectively become the Brexit Party. The SNP is the main challenger in all of their Scottish seats. Defeating the Tories here will help deprive Boris Johnson’s increasingly extreme and right-wing party of the majority they crave.”
READ MORE: Farage U-turn comes weeks after General Election pact denial
The First Minister later added: “The Brexit Party’s announcement really does underline the fact that Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage are joined at the hip and, frankly, any form of Brexit that is acceptable to Nigel Farage is going to be deeply damaging for Scotland.
“I suspect there are many traditional Tory Party voters here in Scotland and elsewhere across the UK who will be appalled to learn that their party has effectively become the Brexit Party.
“If you vote Tory, you get the Brexit Party and its view of the world, and I don’t think that’s what the vast majority of the people in Scotland want. We see a Tory Party becoming ever more extreme and right-wing, and out of touch with the majority of people in Scotland.
“It really does underline the view that if you don’t take Scotland’s future into Scotland’s hands at this election, then the danger is our future is imposed upon us by Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage.”
The Brexit Party move has fuelled speculation that the Tories will pursue a harder approach to EU withdrawal if they secure control of the Commons before Christmas.
Farage, whose personal bid to become an MP has been rejected seven times by voters, initially said his fledgling party would contest every seat after winning 26 places at the European Parliament earlier this year. But yesterday he confirmed the Brexit Party will stand back in Tory-held areas to avoid splitting the Leave vote in next month’s election.
Farage said the U-turn was down to a video posted to Twitter in which Johnson vows not to extend the Brexit transition period past its end date in December 2020.
He also told the Mirror that he had been offered a peerage, but was “not interested”. The shift also follows news that millionaire former Ukip backer and Leave.EU co-founder Arron Banks was to advise Brexit Party supporters to vote Tory.
Farage said his party will now “take the fight to Labour”, while a Brexit Party spokesperson has confirmed it will stand in SNP seats.
The former Ukip leader said he had “genuinely tried” to form a “Leave alliance” with the Tories, but this had been rejected, adding: “In a sense we now have a Leave alliance, it’s just that we’ve done it unilaterally.”
He told a press conference: “We’ve decided ourselves that we absolutely have to put country before party.”
Johnson said: “If we have another hung parliament, it would lead to two more chaotic referendums next year. The Conservatives only need nine more seats to win a majority.”
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