Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage told Britons that they must not accept that leaving the European Union’s institutions at the end of 2020 should be delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Marking the first anniversary of the Brexit Party’s Coventry launch, Mr Farage thanked the hundreds of thousands who donated money and the five million who voted for a party that was just weeks old at the time of the May European Parliament elections, putting the Brexit Party in first place.

“If it hadn’t been for the Brexit Party, not only would we be going through this horrible crisis, we would still be in the EU,” Mr Farage told viewers of his Facebook live session on Tuesday.

He continued: “But the job is not completely finished. I’ve noticed one or two in the Eurosceptic community saying, ‘Oh well, because of the [coronavirus] crisis, let’s just accept that it [Brexit] is going to be delayed.’

“No! We mustn’t accept that it’s going to be delayed. We must be absolutely free to chart our own way out of this and no part of the European investment bank and no liability if the eurozone collapses.”

Mr Farage made similar warnings last week during another Facebook live stream, where he said: “We are also going to see a very big and very serious debt crisis hit the EU. I think a dramatic bust is coming in the European Union.

“If we stay in our current relationship, because we have extended beyond December, we will finish up with significant, perhaps potentially massive, financial liabilities and that would be unacceptable.”

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The UK officially left the EU on January 31st, 2020. However, the country remains subject to bloc’s rules and institutions for the duration of the transition period during which London and Brussels negotiators work on a future trade deal. If a free trade agreement is not agreed on, the two parties will trade with each other on World Trade Organization (WTO) rules when the transition period ends on December 31st, 2020.

Since the coronavirus outbreak spread to Europe, leftists, Europhiles, and European politicians have been calling for the UK to extend the transition period because of the pandemic. Prime Minister Boris Johnson categorically ruled out delaying the exit from the EU’s institutions.

“There is legislation in place that I have no intention of changing,” Prime Minister Johnson said last month in reference to the Brexit law which makes it illegal to extend the transition period.

Predicting that the union of EU nations using the euro will collapse, Mr Farage continued that some “big political change is happening already”.

“I’ve had several conversations with Italians this week,” he said. “The mood now in Italy to leave the European Union is growing very, very quickly and I’ve said to Italian friends: if I can help you with that, I most certainly will.”

Italy has become dissatisfied with its membership of the European super-state due to the bloc’s lack of solidarity with the country worst-hit by Chinese coronavirus in Europe. Recent polling revealed that nearly half — 49 per cent — of Italians now want to leave the EU, an increase of 20 per cent in less than two years.