Boris Johnson may sabotage EU’s budget if Brexit delayed and send Farage as ‘nuclear weapon’ to disrupt Brussels

BORIS Johnson could veto the EU’s seven-year budget and send “nuclear weapon” Nigel Farage to Brussels to “sabotage” the bloc’s workings if he were forced into a Brexit delay.

The Prime Minister remains adamant Britain will leave the EU on Halloween but is prepared to take a more aggressive approach if Brussels refuses to agree a new deal or allow the UK to crash out without one.

Two Cabinet ministers told the Sunday Telegraph plans under discussion include blocking the EU’s 2021-2027 budget, which is currently expected to be signed off in March, as well as sending Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage to Brussels as Britain’s next EU commissioner.

Yesterday the move was openly supported by Steve Baker, the former Brexit minister, who compared it to shooting “a nuclear weapon into the heart of the asteroid”.

He told Chopper’s Brexit Podcast: “I unashamedly back Nigel Farage to be our next EU commissioner in the unfortunate event that it transpires.

“This approach is inspired by the film Armageddon.

“There is that moment when they are trying to save the world and so what they do is they land on the asteroid and they put a nuclear weapon into the heart of the asteroid.

“Nigel Farage is that nuclear weapon”.

‘MEANINGFUL BREXIT’

Last week Mr Johnson set out his new Brexit deal that would in effect keep Northern Ireland in the EU single market for all goods while following UK customs rules.

He claimed the compromise allowed a “meaningful Brexit” without the need for physical checks on the border.

Mr Johnson described his deal as a “practical compromise that gives ground where necessary” and said it represents the UK “jumping to the island in the middle of the river”.

Writing in the Sun on Sunday, he added: “If we’re to leave with a deal, we now need the EU to jump over from its side and join us there, showing its own willingness to do a deal that the UK Parliament can support.”

But the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier poured scorn on the chances of the new proposal succeeding, reportedly telling an event in Paris: “If they do not change, I do not believe, on the basis of the mandate I have been given by the EU27, that we can advance.”

In comments reported by The Observer, he also reiterated the EU’s claim that a no-deal outcome would “never be Europe’s choice…it would always be the UK’s choice, not ours”.

However Irish premier Leo Varadkar gave a glimmer of hope to Mr Johnson as he said a deal could be secured in the next two weeks, but he cautioned the current proposals do not form the basis for “deeper negotiations”.

Brussels wants Mr Johnson to compromise further, including by offering to keep Northern Ireland in the EU customs union.

On Friday Mr Johnson insisted he wouldn’t delay Brexit despite his lawyers saying he will comply with a law calling for the Halloween exit date to be postponed if there is no deal.

Senior aides told the Sunday Times Mr Johnson would not stand aside if his proposals were rejected by Brussels and MPs declared no confidence in his government.

The PM, meanwhile, described Jeremy Corbyn as a “serial wannabe Brexit-wrecker”, but said he has been encouraged to discover not all MPs are “so recalcitrant” in backing the proposal.

Up to 30 Labour MPs have hinted they could back Mr Johnson’s new Brexit deal.

The Prime Minister believes he can get the Tory rebels below 10, while the DUP have also backed his deal. He needs 320 votes for a Commons majority.

Mr Johnson said: “MPs from every wing of my own Conservative Party, from Northern Ireland’s DUP, even from Jeremy Corbyn’s own ranks, have said that our proposed deal looks like one they can get behind.

“Where the previous Withdrawal Agreement, backstop and all, drove an almighty wedge through the heart of Parliament, I have heard positive noises from across the House.”

Last night Mr Johnson won the backing of former PM David Cameron who told an audience at the Cheltenham Literature Festival that Boris had a “good chance” of securing a deal.