EU referendum: Ukip leader Nigel Farage says US trade official was paid to suggest there will be no free trade deal in Brexit scenario
Leader of the UK Independence Party Nigel Farage has said that the US trade official who said the United States wouldn't be interested in a free trade deal with the United Kingdom in a Brexit scenario was "paid to say that".
Speaking on the BBC's the Andrew Marr show, Farage said it is "laughable" that a US trade official said the country wouldn't be interested in trading with the United Kingdom if the country left the European Union.
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The Ukip leader also said Prime Minister David Cameron's renegotiation of the UK's terms of membership of the European Union "is going nowhere" so "he is trying to move the debate on".
He added Norway, Iceland and Switzerland are examples of countries that do deals with the EU without being members.
Given the UK's size and importance as a trading partner, he believes a "far, far" better deal could be struck, he added.
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Farage said the trade official had been paid to say a free trade deal would be unlikely, as the "big guys politically" gang up behind the campaign to stay in the EU.