Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage has said Theresa May is the single biggest problem facing Brexit and that she does not believe in it.
The MEP told students in Trinity College Dublin the UK’s split from Europe will happen but he does not expect it to be on terms he would like.
Fielding questions at the university’s historical society, Mr Farage also said he did not think that Brexit would ultimately be on terms that favour Ireland.
Nigel Farage discussed Anglo-Irish relations and the future of Europe (Brian Lawless/PA)
“We’ve got one really big problem with Brexit and she’s called Theresa May, who I think is the worst Prime Minister I’ve ever seen in my lifetime,” Mr Farge said.
“She’s really bad. She doesn’t believe in it. We’ve picked this fork in the road and she’s trying to straddle both positions.
“She’s trying to keep together a warring Tory party who’ve had problems with this issue for over 40 years.”
Mr Farage said Britain was “limping towards Brexit very, very slowly”.
“My guess is that Brexit will happen,” he said.
“We will leave the European Union but I suspect not on the terms that I would have liked but I’m also beginning to think it will be on terms that Ireland won’t like because the one country that gets the most affected by Brexit after the United Kingdom is the Republic of Ireland.”
Nigel Farage praised Ireland’s leader Leo Varadkar (Brian Lawless/PA)
The MEP said Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was a very good operator.
“He’s a real smoothy, he’s a bit like the Irish Tony Blair. That’s a compliment,” he said.
“It seems to me in these negotiations he’s taking the Brussels side of this against Britain and not the one that’s in the best interests of this country.”
He said he was sometimes likened to Adolf Hitler because of his views.
“I got involved in politics to fight against EU membership because I’m a democrat that believes in free markets, believes in international trade, believes in controlling our borders and yet to listen to mainstream press you’d think I was possibly the reincarnation of Adolf Hitler,” he said.
Mr Farage is in Dublin to attend an Irexit conference in Dublin on Saturday, where he is due to deliver the keynote address.
Other speakers include Dr Anthony Coughlan of Trinity College, Dr Karen Devine of Dublin City University, commentator Cormac Lucey and journalist John Waters.