London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jan 07, 2026

General Election 2019: Boris Johnson rejects Nigel Farage's election pact offer

General Election 2019: Boris Johnson rejects Nigel Farage's election pact offer

The prime minister tells Sky's Sophy Ridge: "I've ruled out a pact with everybody because I don't think it's sensible to do that."
Boris Johnson has rejected Nigel Farage's offer to form a "Leave alliance".

With the general election campaign now under way, the prime minister told Sky's Sophy Ridge: "I've ruled out a pact with everybody because I don't think it's sensible to do that.

Brexit Party leader Mr Farage said on Friday he would hold back from fielding a candidate in every seat in Britain if the PM dropped his EU Withdrawal Agreement and joined him in a "non-aggression pact".

But Mr Johnson insisted he would not do a deal with any party leader over the 12 December election.

He said: "The only likely consequence of voting for them [other party leaders], rather than for us as Conservatives, is that you are making it more likely that you will get Jeremy Corbyn and Labour and a chaotic constellation of other parties... with nothing but dither and delay."

Mr Johnson also rejected Donald Trump's claim that his EU deal may hinder a future trade deal between the US and UK.

The prime minister said: "I'm afraid I don't wish to cast any aspersions on the president of the United States, but in that respect he is patently in error, anybody who looks at our deal can see it is a great deal.

"What it does is it allows us to take back control of our money, our borders and our laws, but also it allows us to have full unfettered control of our tariff schedules in Geneva and to do it as one United Kingdom.

"That deal is ready to go, we've negotiated it. People said it wasn't possible. But there it is."

Mr Johnson also said he was "sorry" the UK did not leave the European Union on 31 October which he had pledged to make happen "do or die".

He told Sophy Ridge: "It's a matter of deep regret. All we need to do now is get on and do it."

Launching the Brexit Party's general election campaign, Mr Farage claimed the PM's deal did not represent Brexit and described his "very big, generous offer" as a "one-off opportunity" that would secure Brexit and win the election with a "big stonking majority".

Speaking to Mr Farage on his radio show on Thursday, the US president said he had doubts over Mr Johnson's deal with the EU.

"Under certain aspects of the deal you can't do it," he said. "You can't do it, you can't trade, we can't make a trade deal with the UK.

"I think we can do many times the numbers that we're doing right now and certainly much bigger numbers than you're doing under the EU. So, I know Boris wants to be very careful of that."
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Béla Tarr, Visionary Hungarian Filmmaker, Dies at Seventy After Long Illness
UK and France Pledge Military Hubs Across Ukraine in Post-Ceasefire Security Plan
Prince Harry Poised to Regain UK Security Cover, Clearing Way for Family Visits
UK Junk Food Advertising Ban Faces Major Loophole Allowing Brand-Only Promotions
Maduro’s Arrest Without The Hague Tests International Law—and Trump’s Willingness to Break It
German Intelligence Secretly Intercepted Obama’s Air Force One Communications
The U.S. State Department’s account in Persian: “President Trump is a man of action. If you didn’t know it until now, now you do—do not play games with President Trump.”
Fake Mainstream Media Double Standard: Elon Musk Versus Mamdani
HSBC Leads 2026 Mortgage Rate Cuts as UK Lending Costs Ease
US Joint Chiefs Chairman Outlines How Operation Absolute Resolve Was Carried Out in Venezuela
Starmer Welcomes End of Maduro Era While Stressing International Law and UK Non-Involvement
Korean Beauty Turns Viral Skincare Into a Global Export Engine
UK Confirms Non-Involvement in U.S. Military Action Against Venezuela
UK Terror Watchdog Calls for Australian-Style Social Media Ban to Protect Teenagers
Iranian Protests Intensify as Another Revolutionary Guard Member Is Killed and Khamenei Blames the West
Delta Force Identified as Unit Behind U.S. Operation That Captured Venezuela’s President
Europe’s Luxury Sanctions Punish Russian Consumers While a Sanctions-Circumvention Industry Thrives
Berkshire’s Buffett-to-Abel Transition Tests Whether a One-Man Trust Model Can Survive as a System
Fraud in European Central Bank: Lagarde’s Hidden Pay Premium Exposes a Transparency Crisis at the European Central Bank
Trump Announces U.S. Large-Scale Strike on Venezuela, Declares President Maduro and Wife Captured
Tesla Loses EV Crown to China’s BYD After Annual Deliveries Decline in 2025
UK Manufacturing Growth Reaches 15-Month Peak as Output and Orders Improve in December
Beijing Threatened to Scrap UK–China Trade Talks After British Minister’s Taiwan Visit
Newly Released Files Reveal Tony Blair Pressured Officials Over Iraq Death Case Involving UK Soldiers
Top Stocks and Themes to Watch in 2026 as Markets Enter New Year with Fresh Momentum
No UK Curfew Ordered as Deepfake TikTok Falsely Attributes Decree to Prime Minister Starmer
Europe’s Largest Defence Groups Set to Return Nearly Five Billion Dollars to Shareholders in Twenty Twenty-Five
Abu Dhabi ‘Capital of Capital’: How Abu Dhabi Rose as a Sovereign Wealth Power
Diamonds Are Powering a New Quantum Revolution
Trump Threatens Strikes Against Iran if Nuclear Programme Is Restarted
Apple Escalates Legal Fight by Appealing £1.5 Billion UK Ruling Over App Store Fees
UK Debt Levels Sit Mid-Range Among Advanced Economies Despite Rising Pressures
UK Plans Royal Diplomacy with King Charles and Prince William to Reinvigorate Trade Talks with US
King Charles and Prince William Poised for Separate 2026 US Visits to Reinforce UK-US Trade and Diplomatic Ties
Apple Moves to Appeal UK Ruling Ordering £1.5 Billion in Customer Overcharge Damages
King Charles’s 2025 Christmas Message Tops UK Television Ratings on Christmas Day
The Battle Over the Internet Explodes: The United States Bars European Officials and Ignites a Diplomatic Crisis
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Join Royal Family at Sandringham Christmas Service
Fine Wine Investors Find Little Cheer in Third Year of Falls
UK Mortgage Rates Edge Lower as Bank of England Base Rate Cut Filters Through Lending Market
U.S. Supermarket Gives Customers Free Groceries for Christmas After Computer Glitch
Air India ‘Finds’ a Plane That Vanished 13 Years Ago
Caviar and Foie Gras? China Is Becoming a Luxury Food Powerhouse
Hong Kong Climbs to Second Globally in 2025 Tourism Rankings Behind Bangkok
From Sunniest Year on Record to Terror Plots and Sports Triumphs: The UK’s Defining Stories of 2025
Greta Thunberg Released on Bail After Arrest at London Pro-Palestinian Demonstration
Banksy Unveils New Winter Mural in London Amid Festive Season Excitement
UK Households Face Rising Financial Strain as Tax Increases Bite and Growth Loses Momentum
UK Government Approves Universal Studios Theme Park in Bedford Poised to Rival Disneyland Paris
UK Gambling Shares Slide as Traders Respond to Steep Tax Rises and Sector Uncertainty
×