Another rat deserts the sinking ship: Nigel Farage has just resigned as UKIP leader, saying he wants his life back

Nigel Farage is speaking to the press in a surprise media announcement at Westminster. He has said that he is stepping down as leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP).

He said he wants his life back and that he doesn’t think he can do anything more, because he has achieved what he set out to do. “I came into politics from business (with the single objective of) taking Britain out of the European Union. I have done that now and I feel there is nothing more for me to do here.”

He will, of course, he keeping his seat in the European Parliament – he has as long as it takes for the UK to pull out – as he doesn’t wish to get off that particular gravy-train he has spent years ranting and raving about.

He has just said that his job as UKIP leader is “seven days a week” – which means he has no shame in admitting that he is giving nothing back in return for his European Parliament salary, and that he has been using that salary to fund his time and commitments as a party leader in national politics back home in Britain. In simple terms, he is a prime example of the corruption and abuse he claims to have been fighting against. Shameless.

He ended the press briefing by criticising Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond for “waving the white flag of surrender before he’s even started”, when he himself is running off and leaving others to handle the mess he created.