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Nigel Farage tells Leave Means Leave rally to prepare for second referendum on Brexit

Nigel Farage has said he believes the UK may face a second Brexit referendum in the coming months and has urged Leave campaigners to "get ready for every situation".

The MEP and former Ukip leader said he did not think "the great Brexit betrayal is anywhere near finished" and was "more fearful than any point in this process".

Speaking at the Leave Means Leave rally in London on Friday night, Mr Farage said: "My message folks tonight is, as much as I don't want a second referendum, it would be wrong of us on a Leave Means Leave platform not to get ready, not to be prepared for a worst case scenario."

He added: "We've now got to move into a different gear. We've got to start forming branches and active groups all over this country.

Former UKIP Leader Nigel Farage (EPA)
Former UKIP Leader Nigel Farage (EPA)

"We've got to re-engage with those millions of people who never voted in their lives before.

"And if all our efforts come to nothing because we leave at 11pm on March 29th, then so much the better.

"But can I urge you, can I implore you to get ready for every situation. I think they will, in the next few months, betray us completely and let us be ready not just to fight back, but if it comes, we will win it next time by a much bigger margin."

Nigel Farage speaks at a 'Leave Means Leave Rally' in central London (EPA)
Nigel Farage speaks at a 'Leave Means Leave Rally' in central London (EPA)

Mr Farage was joined at the event by other prominent Brexit campaigners including Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, Tim Martin, the owner of JD Wetherspoon, the Democratic Unionist Party's Sammy Wilson, and Labour MPs Kate Hoey and Graham Stringer.

Mr Wilson and Mr Farage both made reference to Chancellor Philip Hammond's recent comments that the no confidence vote against Theresa May would "flush out the extremists" in the party.

Mr Wilson said: "In the words of the old Dad's Army theme, who do you think you're kidding Mr Hammond?"

When Mr Farage mentioned Mr Hammond, the audience let out a loud boo, to which the MEP said: "Great, a new bogeyman!"

In his speech, Mr Rees-Mogg attacked Mrs May's Brexit deal, calling it a "distraction".

Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg has previously demanded that Theresa May resign (PA)
Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg has previously demanded that Theresa May resign (PA)

The leader of the European Research Group of Tory MPs said: "We need to remind ourselves, here we are two-and-a-bit years in and we're looking at 585 pages of text. Sixty-eight pages, do you know what 68 pages do? They list one by one all the regulations that apply to Sammy and not to me.

"It's also a distraction from why we wanted to leave. We wanted to leave, ladies and gentlemen, because we think we can do better for ourselves."

Mr Martin said he had swapped some of Wetherspoon's EU imported products for UK ones, in order to "show some muscle" against EU "scare stories".

He said: "We at Wetherspoon decided to do a little experiment. We're going to take French brandy and we're going to take French champagne and German imported Jagermeister ... and we're going to swap them for UK products.

"I'm a free trader, so are you," Mr Martin said addressing the audience.

"But there comes a time, which I think has arrived now, and we have to show a bit of muscle."

Mr Martin said since taking this decision his trade had "gone up".

All the speakers at the rally advocated rejecting Mrs May's deal and leaving the EU on March 29 with no deal.

"No deal, no problem," Mr Farage said.

"We can look forward to big parties starting at 11pm on the night of 29th March."

Additional reporting by Press Association.