WHAT is Nigel Farage playing at?

Brexiteers come in all shapes, colours and err, levels of hardness, but the one thing they have been consistent about is their stubborn refusal to have a second referendum.

That has been the red line issue which none dared cross.

Trust the maverick, publicity-hungry Farage to break ranks and start goading the Remain side with the kind of bring-it-on trash talk that boxers use to stoke up their next bout.

The former Ukip leader says he is close to backing a second EU referendum to end the “whinging and whining” of anti-Brexit campaigners. Mr Farage reckons that a fresh vote could kill off the Remain campaign, claiming Leave would now win by a landslide.

Pro-EU campaigners have welcomed his boast, insisting support is growing for another vote as details emerge about how the deal being thrashed out between David Davis and Michel Barnier could cost the UK economy £50 billion and see us lose up to half a million jobs.

We shouldn’t be too surprised by Farage’s outburst. After all he has made a career out of saying the unsayable, and freed from the strictures of party leadership he doesn’t have to answer to anyone these days.

Downing Street insists there will be no second poll, but if Labour picks up the gauntlet and shows a collective will to press for Britain to be given a  vote before the deal is ratified then things could become very interesting indeed.

The big question is: does Jeremy Corbyn have the guts to take on the challenge?