How Nigel Farage was RIGHT to say that Leave beat Remain in EU election after TV spat with GMB’s Charlotte Hawkins
Pro-Brexit parties took 44% of the vote with Remain-backing parties on 40%
Pro-Brexit parties took 44% of the vote with Remain-backing parties on 40%
NIGEL Farage blasted Good Morning Britain's host Charlotte Hawkins over false claims that Remain parties won the majority in the European elections.
The Brexit Party leader hit out at the idea that pro-EU parties had done better than Leavers - saying it was "absolute tosh" based on dodgy arithmetic.
Nigel Farage dubbed Ms Hawkins' claims as 'absolute tosh'
Parties which support leaving the EU won 44 per cent of votes in last week's European Parliament elections - with the firmly pro-Remain parties taking just over 40 per cent.
Leaving aside Labour, whose muddled position was designed to appeal to both sides, that suggests there's still a majority for Brexit across the country.
Ms Hawkins challenged Mr Farage about the argument, saying: "If you add up all the pro-Remain parties they did get a bigger percentage - 35.8 per cent versus the Brexit Party 31.6 per cent.
"So the pro-Remain parties altogether did get a bigger percentage."
But she left out the Tories and Ukip from her calculations - even though both parties are committed to quitting the EU.
Mr Farage was quick to fire back, saying: "I'm sorry this is absolute tosh. It is not a fact.
"Add up the Brexit vote, add up the Ukip vote, add the Conservative vote, who are still a party that says we are going to leave, and you will find that Leave beat Remain.
"In fact what you will find is that overall the country is 52-48 in favour of leaving.
"We are supposed to be a democracy. We were promised this would be implemented."
Tony Blair today repeated the claim, telling Sky News: "You can argue about the Brexit Party coming number one - but then if you stack up the votes of the pro-Remain parties it's a bigger percentage than the Brexit Party and Ukip.
"So what these results tell you is that this country is profoundly divided."
The BBC was also slammed for publishing a graphic showing that "anti-Brexit" parties had beaten "pro-Brexit" ones - again by leaving out the Tories from the Leave column.
Even Beeb presenter Andrew Neil criticised the decision, saying: "This is dodgy. And probably not a worthwhile exercise."
Top politics expert John Curtice warned today that the results don't show how a second referendum would turn out.
Writing in The Sun, the respected professor said no option landed a majority in the Euro elections and claimed a re-run of the 2016 vote would be highly unpredictable.
LEAVERS and Remainers are divided yet again - over how to interpret the EU election results.
The Brexit Party came top with 31.6 per cent of the vote, while hardcore Remainers such as the Lib Dems and Greens also did well.
Some anti-Brexit campaigners have tried adding up all the parties which back a second referendum and claiming that their 40.4 per cent beats Nigel Farage's party.
But that is to ignore the Tories and Ukip - two more parties committed to leaving the EU which take the pro-Brexit side to 44 per cent.
Remainers might then hit back by claiming Labour for their cause because the party theoretically supports a "public vote" on Brexit.
Adding Labour to the Remain parties WOULD give them a majority - but given Jeremy Corbyn's flip-flopping position, designed to appeal to both sides, it's only fair to keep them in their own category, neither for nor against Brexit.
If you remove Labour from the equation, the stats show that Britain is split 52/48 on whether or not to leave the EU.
That's exactly the same as the 2016 referendum result - suggesting we haven't moved on at all in the past three years.
Mr Farage promised to deliver a massive "wake-up call" to the Tories and Labour as he led the Brexit Party to a historic win in the European elections.
Millions of voters deserted the two main parties and flocked to the Brexit Party in a bid to send the message that it's time to quit the EU at last.
The Brexit Party swept the board - winning every single region of Britain except heavily pro-Remain London and Scotland. It is now set to be the biggest party from ANY country in the European Parliament.
With all of the UK's councils having declared, Mr Farage's party was far ahead on 32 per cent with the Lib Dems second on 20 per cent.
Labour were languishing on 14 per cent with the Greens on 12 per cent and the Tories lagging on just 9 per cent - their worst result ever.
The Brexit Party won 29 of the country's 73 MEPs - and the Tories picked up just four seats.
The would-be next PM Jeremy Hunt warned the Tories would be wiped off the map if Brexit is kicked down the road again.
He tweeted: "We knew it was coming but still a painful result. Existential risk to our party unless we now come together and get Brexit done."
The Conservatives failed to win a single seat in multiple regions including London, the East and West Midlands, the South West and Yorkshire.
Mr Farage said yesterday that he could sweep aside both parties if they continue to fail the country.
He blasted: "If we don't leave on October 31, then we will deliver a result in the next General Election that will stun them.
"The Conservative party are bitterly divided and I consider it to be extremely unlikely that they will pick a leader who is able to take us out on October 31 come what may.
"We might overnight have made their lives a bit easier but I don't see them being able to deliver and I think the real barrier, the real obstruction to all of this is a two-party system that may well have worked in decades gone by but is no longer fit for purpose.
"In some ways, the Labour party today are in more trouble than the Conservative party."
East of England (7 MEPs)
Brexit Party 38%, Lib Dems 23%, Greens 13%, Tories 10%, Labour 9%, Change UK 4%, Ukip 3%
Brexit Party 3 MEPs, Lib Dems 2, Greens 1, Tories 1
East Midlands (5 MEPs)
Brexit Party 38%, Lib Dems 17%, Labour 14%, Tories 11%, Greens 11%, Ukip 5%, Change UK 4%
Brexit Party 3 MEPs, Lib Dems 1, Labour 1
London (8 MEPs)
Lib Dems 27%, Labour 24, Brexit Party 18%, Greens 12%, Tories 8%, Change UK 5%, Ukip 2%
Lib Dems 3 MEPs, Labour 2, Brexit Party 2, Greens 1
North East (3 MEPs)
Brexit Party 39%, Labour 19%, Lib Dems 17%, Greens 8%, Tories 7%, Ukip 6%, Change UK 4%
Brexit Party 2 MEPs, Labour 1
North West (8 MEPs)
Brexit Party 31%, Labour 22%, Lib Dems 17%, Greens 13%, Tories 8%, Ukip 4%, Change UK 3%
Brexit Party 3 MEPs, Labour 2, Lib Dems 2, Greens 1
South East (10 MEPs)
Brexit Party 36%, Lib Dems 26%, Greens 14%, Tories 10%, Labour 7%, Change UK 4%, Ukip 2%
Brexit Party 4 MEPs, Lib Dems 3, Greens 1, Tories 1, Labour 1
South West (6 MEPs)
Brexit Party 37%, Lib Dems 23%, Greens 18%, Tories 9%, Labour 7% Ukip 3%, Change UK 3%
Brexit Party 3, Lib Dems 2, Greens 1
West Midlands (7 MEPs)
Brexit Party 38%, Labour 17%, Lib Dems 16%, Greens 11%, Tories 10%, Ukip 5%, Change UK 3%
Brexit Party 3 MEPs, Labour 1, Lib Dems 1, Greens 1, Tories 1
Yorkshire & Humber (6 MEPs)
Brexit Party 37%, Labour 16%, Lib Dems 16%, Greens 13%, Tories 7%, Ukip 4%, Yorkshire Party 4%, Change UK 2%
Brexit Party 3 MEPs, Labour 1, Lib Dems 1, Greens 1
Wales (4 MEPs)
Brexit Party 33%, Plaid Cymru 20%, Labour 15%, Lib Dems 14%, Tories 7%, Greens 6%, Ukip 3%
Brexit Party 2 MEPs, Plaid Cymru 1, Labour 1
Scotland (6 MEPs)
SNP 38%, Brexit Party 15%, Lib Dems 14%, Tories 12%, Scottish Labour 9%, Greens 8%
SNP 3 MEPs, Brexit Party 1, Lib Dems 1, Tories 1
Northern Ireland (3 MEPs)
DUP 1 MEP, Sinn Fein 1, Alliance 1
The strong showing for Mr Farage's No Deal agenda and the hardline pro-Remain parties suggests Britain is more divided over Brexit than ever with the Tories and Labour suffering from having a fudged message.
Jeremy Corbyn is now set to back a second referendum after his party's election flop.
It's not clear how long the new MEPs will actually serve in Brussels - because they're scheduled to leave as soon as Britain quits the EU, which is meant to happen on October 31.
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