Nigel Farage Proposes Automatic Referendums If Five Million People Sign Petition

Brexit Party leader also demands civil servants sign 'neutrality' oath and abolition of the BBC license fee as he unveils manifesto.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Nigel Farage has proposed legally binding referendums be automatically be held if five million people sign a petition – about anything.

The Brexit Party leader launched his manifesto, or “contract”, on Friday morning in Westminster.

Farage said under his plan there would be a ban on repeating a referendum on the same question in the space of 10 years.

A petition on parliament’s petitions website demanding Article 50 be revoked to keep the UK in the EU currently has more than six million signatures.

Speaking in Westminster, Farage also demanded civil servants be required to sign a “neutrality” oath.

He accused the civil service of becoming “highly politicised” since the 2016 referendum and recently said he wanted to “take the knife” to Whitehall.

Setting out his policy agenda, Farage also said he wanted to “phase out” the BBC licence fee.

Farage has scaled back his ambitions for the election on December 12, standing down candidates in hundreds of Tory-held seats.

He has also acknowledged local Brexit Party candidates in Labour-held seats are voluntarily soft-pedalling their campaigns to try and help the Leave vote unite behind the Tory candidate.

Farage said there were “a lot of Labour voters” who cannot bring themselves to vote Conservative but would vote for his party.

“They showed that in the European elections and they’re showing it now. We are now beginning to dig into the old Labour seats,” he said.

“Arguably in many of the key Tory seats we’re actually making it rather easier for them by picking up Labour votes that would never ever go to the Conservatives.”