U.K. politician Nigel Farage — an outspoken supporter of Brexit — has said it might be time to hold a second referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union.
Farage, the former leader of the right-wing UKIP party, said that having a second referendum would remove doubt over the U.K.’s decision to withdraw from the bloc.
“My mind is actually changing on this,” he said, speaking on British panel show “The Wright Stuff.”
The ex-UKIP leader said that critics of the EU withdrawal, including former Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, would “never, ever, ever give up” in their calls for a second vote.
“Maybe, just maybe, I’m reaching the point of thinking that we should have a second referendum on EU membership,” Farage said.
He added: “I think if we had a second referendum on EU membership, we’d kill it off for a generation. The percentage that would vote to leave next time would be very much bigger than it was last time round and we may just finish the whole thing off.”
Britain voted 52 percent to 48 percent to leave the EU in the June 2016 referendum.
Farage served as the leader of UKIP in the run up to the Brexit referendum in June 2016, but resigned a month later, claiming his political ambition had been “achieved”.
UKIP has long called for Britain to leave the EU, particularly over its stance on immigration. The party has declined in popularity significantly following the Brexit referendum, gaining no seats and just 1.8 percent of the vote in 2017’s snap election, down from 12.6 percent in 2015.
Farage’s comments come as analysis commissioned by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan showed the U.K. economy could lose 500,000 jobs and $67 billion by 2030 because of Brexit.
Source: cnbc
Brexit backer Nigel Farage says ‘maybe’ UK should have second referendum on EU membership