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Nigel Farage today blasted EU chief Jean Claude-Juncker for appearing to rule out a delay to Brexit if Boris Johnson's deal fails to win approval from MPs on Saturday.

He also claimed today that it would be better to delay Brexit than leave under Mr Johnson's new deal.

The Brexit Party leader lashed out at the compromise hammered out by the Prime Minister with Brussels and claimed it would be thrown out by MPs.

Mr Johnson's deal offers a harder divorce from the EU than Theresa May's original agreement but it falls far short of the red lines of hardline Brexiteers like Mr Farage who believe the UK should quit the bloc without an accord.

Meanwhile, Mr Farage responded with fury after European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker suggested the EU would not agree to any further Brexit delay.

Mr Juncker told reporters at a crunch EU summit in Brussels today that 'there will be no prolongation' of the Brexit process.

Mr Farage accused Mr Juncker of behaving like a 'thug', dictating terms to the UK.

'So an unelected, retiring bureaucrat says: No extension, take this new treaty or just leave,' he tweeted.

'He is overriding the Benn Act. The EU shows itself to be a thuggocracy - power without accountability. Appalling people.'

MPs are set to vote on Mr Johnson's eleventh hour agreement in a historic session in the House of Commons on Saturday.

But Mr Farage told Sky News today: 'Look I would much rather we had an extension and a chance of a general election than accept this dreadful new EU treaty.'

Nigel Farage told Sky News today: 'Look I would much rather we had an extension and a chance of a general election than accept this dreadful new EU treaty'

The leader of the Brexit Party then took aim at Jean Claude-Juncker who he accused of trying to 'override' UK democracy

The Brexit Party leader lashed out at the compromise hammered out by the Prime Minister (pictured with EU leaders after announcing the deal today) with Brussels

Asked a similar question by the BBC he said: 'I would very much like us to leave on the October 31 but I understand that the Benn Act has been passed and that makes it impossible.

'But would I rather accept a new European treaty that is frankly very bad for us or would I prefer to have an extension and a general election? I would always go for the latter option.'

A Brexit deal that passes the Commons and delivers Brexit would seriously hamper the Brexit Party as it heads into the upcoming election, removing almost its entire reason for existing at a swipe.

Mr Farage has previously suggested the Tories enter an electoral pact with his party and he did so again today.

'If withdrawal agreement four fails on Saturday, as I believe it will, I think then Boris Johnson as Prime Minister would drop the idea of this new treaty and there is a possibility of putting together a Leave alliance for the next general election,' he said.

'I think there is an opportunity here for a Brexit alliance to fight the elections that would win a big majority in Parliament.'

But a Tory source blasted his attitude, saying he was 'only interested in an outcome that maximises his electoral chances'.

MPs face a moment of truth on Brexit this weekend after Mr Juncker suggested the EU will not offer an extension beyond Halloween if the Commons torpedoes Mr Johnson's new deal.

The commission president turned up the heat on critics of the PM's newly-sealed plan by indicating they will have a stark choice between this package - or No Deal.

The dramatic intervention came as Mr Johnson insisted 'now is the moment to get Brexit done' after he signed off the blueprint, which deletes the hated Irish backstop.

The premier has taken an extraordinary gamble by signing off the agreement despite fierce opposition from the DUP - who publicly spelled out a laundry list of objections and accused him of risking the break-up of the UK.

The bold move tees up a massive showdown in the Commons with Mr Johnson hoping EU leaders will help him at a Brussels summit tonight by declaring that it is this package or No Deal on October 31.

Mr Juncker hinted that could be the outcome when he told reporters there will be no 'prolongation'. Asked if he believed Parliament would approve the deal, he said: 'I hope it will, I'm convinced it will. It has to.

'Anyway there will be no prolongation. We have concluded a deal and so there is not an argument for further delay - it has to be done now.'

Earlier he hailed the breakthrough at a Brussels press conference alongside Mr Johnson, with the PM saying there must be 'no more delay' about the UK leaving the bloc.

'I do think this deal represents a very good deal for the EU and the UK,' Mr Johnson told reporters, saying the UK would leave 'whole and entire'.

'I think it is a reasonable, fair outcome and reflected the large amount of work undertaken by both sides.'

DUP double down on opposition to Boris Johnson's new Brexit deal as the unionists accuse the PM of losing his nerve during talks with the EU and vow to fight his divorce agreement

The DUP has accused Boris Johnson of losing his nerve during Brexit negotiations as senior figures in the party said the PM had been 'too eager by far' to reach a deal with the EU.

The Northern Irish unionist party dropped a Brexit bombshell on Mr Johnson this morning as it said it could not support his proposed divorce agreement.

But he decided to push ahead with the accord anyway as he gambled on being able to get his deal through the House of Commons without the support of the DUP's 10 MPs.

Mr Johnson's decision to proceed without the blessing of his allies sparked DUP fury and accusations of the PM throwing the party under the bus.

The DUP is now vowing to fight against the agreement as a bitter war of words erupted and the party said it would try to persuade Tory backbenchers to abandon the premier.

Nigel Dodds and Arlene Foster, the deputy leader and leader of the DUP, said today that they could not support Boris Johnson's proposed Brexit deal

But Mr Johnson, pictured in Brussels this afternoon, decided to press ahead with his agreement without the support of the unionist party

Nigel Dodds, the DUP's deputy leader, suggested Mr Johnson had struck a bad Brexit deal in a last-ditch bid to avoid another delay.

He said an anti-No Deal law known as the Benn Act which will force the PM to ask the EU for an extension beyond October 31 if no agreement is in place by close of play on Saturday had pushed the PM into an act of 'desperation'.

'He has been too eager by far to get a deal at any cost, and the fact of the matter is, if he held his nerve and held out he would, of course, have got better concessions that kept the integrity, both economic and constitutionally, of the United Kingdom,' he said.

Meanwhile, Arlene Foster, the DUP leader, said she could not support the proposed agreement on the grounds it would result in several administrative borders being erected between the UK and Northern Ireland.

'This gives us a border in the Irish Sea in terms of VAT, in terms of customs and in terms of single market rules, without any consent that is meaningful for the people of Northern Ireland,' she said.

Mr Johnson managed to successfully delete the Irish border backstop from the divorce deal by replacing it with a complex set of customs arrangements and by giving the Northern Ireland Assembly a say on what should happen in the future.

But Ms Foster said allowing Stormont to vote on retaining the arrangements on the basis of a straight majority vote, rather than using a peace process mechanism that requires a majority of unionists and nationalists, undermined the principle of powersharing.

'For the first time in 21 years we are moving away from powersharing, we are moving away from the majority of unionism and the majority of nationalists, we are moving to single majority vote,' she said.

Sammy Wilson, the DUP's Brexit spokesman, said the party will now encourage like-minded members of the government to oppose Mr Johnson's Brexit deal.

'We will encourage others to oppose it,' Mr Wilson told Irish national broadcaster RTE.

'I don't think it's for me to speak for them, other than to say that I have just left the House of Commons and on my way out I was stopped by at least four Conservatives who told me that they think that this is a disgraceful way to behave so we will fight this.'

He added: 'In the past (former prime minister) Theresa May thought she had got people on board and then found to her surprise that they weren't and I suspect there is every chance that this might happen again on Saturday.'

Ms Foster and Mr Dodds have been frequent visitors to Number 10 in recent days but talks ended in acrimony

The DUP had placed itself on a collision course with Mr Johnson this morning after it refused to back his hard-fought deal to quit the EU.

In a statement the DUP warned: 'Saturday's vote in Parliament on the proposals will only be the start of a long process to get any Withdrawal Agreement Bill through the House of Commons.'

They added: 'Following confirmation from the Prime Minister that he believes he has secured a ''great new deal'' with the European Union the Democratic Unionist Party will be unable to support these proposals in Parliament.

'The Democratic Unionist Party has worked since the referendum result to secure a negotiated deal as we leave the European Union.

'We have been consistent that we will only ever consider supporting arrangements that are in Northern Ireland's long-term economic and constitutional interests and protect the integrity of the Union.

'These proposals are not, in our view, beneficial to the economic well-being of Northern Ireland and they undermine the integrity of the Union.'