“He says he wants to unite the country,” Farage said of Burnham. “A second referendum will divide the country bitterly in a way perhaps we’ve never seen before.
“If Andy Burnham — the ‘King of the North’ — wants a fight in Doncaster and the Red Wall with me on rejoining the European Union, then bring it on, I say.”
The choice of Doncaster for the speech was no coincidence. The northern city strongly voted to leave the EU, and lies in the so-called “Red Wall” that was once Labour’s industrial heartlands.
“He might have just given me the biggest boost in my career I’ve ever had. Thank you, Andy,” Farage added.
Return to campaigning
The Reform leader used the speech to kick off a promised stretch of constant campaigning.
Farage acknowledged he had been “relatively absent” from the limelight during a summer in which his party has been dogged by questions over the probity of donations to Reform.