The Leave campaigner says ‘increased global opportunities’ await outside the single market

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Nigel Farage has said Britain is heading for a “mild” recession but says it has nothing to do with Brexit.

The victorious Leave campaigner rejected warnings that leaving the European Union would have dire consequences for the UK economy, even as markets were rocked by Thursday’s result.

Sterling plummeted to its lowest level against the US dollar for 35 years as the tide turned in favour of leaving the EU in the early hours of Friday.

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The dramatic slide was followed by chaos on trading floors around the world as pre-polling jitters turned into panic and uncertainty following the leave vote and David Cameron’s resignation.

However Farage said Britain’s exit from the EU, for which he has campaigned for 25 years, would not be damaging.

“There’s nothing new here,” he told the Sunday Telegraph. “I think we are going into a mild recession anyway, completely regardless of Brexit. Our growth forecasts are down. Our public-sector borrowing is still not under control at all and everyone forgets that sterling is in a bear market, declining since July 2014.”

Farage said “increased global opportunities” awaited outside the single market.

“There is no reason why we really couldn’t be benefiting two years from now,” he told the newspaper.

He said he felt sympathy for Cameron, but it was now time for a pro-Brexit government led by a pro-Brexit prime minister.

He stopped short of backing any particular candidate, but said he would be “happy” to see Boris Johnson, Michael Gove or Liam Fox in the post. “Brexit prime minister, that’s all I want,” he said.