Boris Johnson wants to resuscitate his predecessor’s deeply unpopular withdrawal agreement with the EU, Nigel Farage has warned, accusing the new prime minister of trying to avoid a no-deal Brexit.

The leader of the Brexit party said that he would put “country before party” and join forces with Johnson if he were truly committed to making a “clean break” with the bloc – but that unfortunately this is not the case.

“I’m afraid that’s not what the prime minister wants to do and that was made very clear by his statement outside Downing Street last night. He is intent on reheating Mrs May’s withdrawal agreement,” Farage said on Tuesday.

Johnson is hoping to push through the same deal put forward by former Prime Minister Theresa May, but “minus the backstop” with Ireland, according to Farage.

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May’s proposal was overwhelmingly rejected by Parliament, with many Conservatives turning against her and voting with the opposition.

Farage said that if Johnson was truly committed to leaving the EU without a deal, his party – which trounced the Conservatives and Labour in the latest European elections – would help the prime minister “any way we can.”

Predicting that Johnson would be hailed as a “national hero” if he went through with a hard Brexit, Farage argued that a Leave coalition would sweep to victory in the next general election.

“[The Conservatives], allied with us, would be unstoppable in the general election. We could get Brexit, we could destroy [Labour leader Jeremy] Corbyn and we would be a free, independent nation,” he said.

Johnson may be short of allies as the October 31 Brexit deadline looms. The former British finance minister, Philip Hammond, has announced that an alliance of opposition parties and rebel Conservative lawmakers should have the numbers to defeat Johnson’s Brexit plan.

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