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Nigel Farage has set up a meeting with the EU's chief Brexit negotiator in a new headache for Theresa May.

Aides said the meeting between the ex-UKIP leader and Michel Barnier will take place on Monday morning.

Mr Farage, who has failed seven times to become an MP, is still an MEP in the European Parliament, and will draw an estimated £73,000-a-year EU pension.

He is entitled to deal with Mr Barnier in his role as head of the right-wing Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy (EFDD) political group.

But anti-Brexit campaign group Open Britain said it was like "sending an arsonist to put out a house fire".

(Image: REUTERS)

Executive director James McGrory added: "After years of poisoning our politics, telling outright lies about the EU and cosying up to Trump, he has already done enough damage to our country and our international standing.

"He has no answers to the costs and complexity of Brexit, other than to blithely say we should walk away with no deal, which would be an unmitigated disaster for our economy and our country.

"As it becomes clear that the Brexit that he and other leading Leave campaigners sold to the public is not deliverable, what is required is honesty and realism, neither of which are Nigel Farage’s forte."

In a letter seen by Sky News, Mr Farage wrote to Mr Barnier: "It seems that you are listening to a group of people who want to stop or delay Brexit.

"I will come to speak for the 17.4 million who did not vote for a transition deal or any further delays and whose resolve is getting stronger."