‘If Britain stays in EU, we’ll end up with euro’ - Farage

A vote to stay in the European Union in the upcoming in/out referendum could lead to Britain joining the euro, warns UKIP leader Nigel Farage.

Speaking in Westminster on Thursday, Farage said if Britain votes ‘Yes’ in the upcoming referendum on EU membership it would result in the UK entering a closer political union with Brussels.

The UKIP leader admitted the ‘No’ campaign is in disarray, but said his party would lead the movement “in the absence of anybody else.”

Farage also commented on the ongoing migrant crisis in Calais, warning immigrants could travel to Britain lawfully under the EU’s freedom of movement policy if French authorities granted them asylum status.

Speaking to supporters, Farage warned a ‘Yes’ vote could result in the UK joining the single currency.

“There is no doubt if we vote ‘Yes,’ it really means yes – yes to a closer political union and extended European Union foreign policy. If the yes men get their way we move closer to joining the euro,” he said.

“You don’t believe me? Just listen to Richard Branson on the Marr program. Just listen to Tony Blair the other day. They’re all coming out the line that if the economic conditions are right, they would like us to join the euro.”

Farage refuted the idea that remaining in the EU would mean a continuation of the status quo, instead warning it would result in the UK giving more power to Brussels.

“Some in the ‘yes’ campaign may pretend that if we vote ‘Yes’, our relationship will stay at it is. But it won’t. And to say that is to fundamentally understand what the EU is. It’s a process, every single day. Every single directive, every single regulation adds to the power of Brussels,” he added.

He said the risk of Britain staying in the EU is “quite great,” because the country risks being “trapped inside a failing club.”

Farage admitted the momentum of the ‘No’ campaign had dropped off in recent months

“What of the no side? Well they’ve gone to ground. Those who are in some cases have been calling for twenty years for a fundamental change in Britain’s relationship with the European Union have decided to stand aside, to wait and see, not to snipe at the PM, and to wish him well with his renegotiations [with the EU],” he said.

“In the absence of anybody else, UKIP is going to take the lead in this country,” Farage added.

The UKIP leader told supporters Prime Minister David Cameron’s negotiations with the EU were out of touch with ordinary British voters, who cared about issues which were not being discussed such as open-door immigration, the cost EU membership and the common asylum policy.

Continuing on the subject of immigration, Farage went on to warn that thousands of migrants currently camped in Calais could enter the UK lawfully if French authorities granted them asylum status.

“All the French authorities need to do at Calais is to grant asylum status, to all 5,000 people there, give them French passports, and then they can come to the United Kingdom without having climbed or in the back of a truck,” he said.

“So we do need to discuss free movement of people, and we do need to discuss, in the old days – 40 years ago – it was called sovereignty, but we ditch that word as nobody gets it.

"But let’s call it the supremacy of Parliament; let’s call it the ability of the British people to make their own laws,” he added.