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The former UKIP leader branded Mrs May a "waste of space" who "needs to go" in a sitting of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

He criticised the PM for not being prepared to walk away from Brexit negotiations without a deal.

Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary and lead Brexiteer, is due to speak later in Manchester at the Conservative Party conference.

He seems to have signalled leadership ambitions with two recent newspaper interventions on Brexit.

Mrs May has had to dodge questions surrounding his future, and her own position after June's disastrous election performance.

Mr Farage's passionate comments today will not help her mood.

(Image: PA)

He said the Prime Minister is "not worldly enough" to realise that her "pitiful" Florence speech making offers to the European Union to unlock exit talks amounted to "appeasing" a "bully".

The MEP also condemned the EU for holding Britain "hostage" in the negotiations because it will not discuss a trade deal before questions surrounding the divorce bill, citizens' rights and the Irish border are resolved.

Mr Farage spoke as MEPs are expected to back a motion stating that "sufficient progress" has not been made on the withdrawal issues for trade talks to begin.

"Through this negotiating process I'm afraid from the start you've treated us as if we're some kind of hostage, that unless we pay a ransom, unless we meet all of your demands, all of your demands, then you won't even have an intelligent conversation with us about trade heading on from here," he said.

"There are no guarantees that whatever Mrs May says or does that you will ever, even when we have met your demands, that you will ever come to us and want to have a sensible trade agreement.

"And I have to say, that it is sad, in fact it was pitiful, to see the British Prime Minister in Florence – I've heard you saying that she's being conciliatory, that she's being grown up, people are happy with what she said.

(Image: AFP/GETTY)

"Actually Mrs May, I'm sad to say, isn't worldly enough to recognise that when you face up to a bully the one thing that you do not do is try to appease them."

Mr Farage went on: "I just hope that in Manchester the Conservative Party start to say in public what they are all saying to me in private – that she's a waste of space, she needs to go, we need a proper Prime Minister who says to Mr Barnier 'okay – here's a deadline, here's a date, we work towards that date.

"If we can't reach a sensible deal on trade and everything else then we are simply leaving and reverting to WTO (World Trade Organisation) rules'.

"This charade cannot go on for year after year; after all we voted Brexit."

Mr Farage also blasted the EU for failing to condemn Spanish police violence against Catalonians voting in Sunday's independence referendum which was deemed illegal by the Madrid government and the country's top court.

He said: "Can you imagine if the British police were to have roughed up a couple of Scottish National Party protesters or if something happened against a pro-Brexit rally?

"You'd all be screaming blue murder – indeed the calls would be that the United Kingdom must go before the European Court of Human Rights, and yet with this you don't even want to talk about it."