Nigel Farage brutally skewers EU-loving ex civil servant for ‘vandalising Brexit’

Nigel Farage has blasted a former civil servant for helping to “vandalise Brexit” as the Reform UK leader delivered a crushing six-word putdown. The Clacton MP said of Philip Rycroft, a former head of the Department for Exiting the EU: “He is an enemy of democracy.”

Mr Rycroft wrote in The Times that Brexit was decided by a “bare majority”. He added that the argument to rejoin was “founded on a clear-headed appraisal of what is in the country’s best interest”. Taking to social media site X, Mr Farage claimed Mr Rycroft “wants to choke the funding of political opponents he disagrees with”.

It comes as Labour aims to reset relations with the EU. Brexiteers fear Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is taking the UK away from its hard-won freedoms.

Mark Francois, chairman of the European Research Group, which has backed the Daily Express campaign to Give Us A Proper Brexit, said “some parts of the British establishment have never accepted the result” of the 2016 referendum, nor “the fact that the British people had the temerity to decide to govern themselves”.

He added: “As Labour’s floundering in the polls continues, they are now coming out of the woodwork and trying to persuade the ailing Government that salvation lies in rejoining the EU. They have realised that Starmer remains a Remainer – and always will.”

Another leading Brexiteer and former MEP, David Campbell Bannerman, told the Daily Express that Mr Rycroft “represents all that is wrong about the establishment”, adding: “He was head of the Brexit department despite not believing in Brexit.”

He added: “He has sought to frustrate Brexit and now seeks to try and reverse it. Frankly, his behaviour is treasonous, and we should start to prosecute those who so blatantly seek to undermine our democracy and nation – at our expense.”

And Simon Clark, a former Conservative MP who backed Leave, said: “It hasn’t taken long for the very people who did their utmost to frustrate Brexit from moving openly to try to destroy it. Philip Rycroft is clearly emboldened by Labour’s obvious desire to take us back to rule from Brussels.

“What we should be focused on is making a success of independence and the opportunities it brings us to diverge from European rules in areas like trade, farming, AI and tech and financial services.

“We also need to complete the process of taking back control of our borders by leaving the European Convention on Human Rights, as opposed to going back to EU freedom of movement.”

The Government, which has consistently denied it is seeking to rejoin the EU via the back door, has been approached for comment.