Boris Johnson backs Andrea Leadsom for Tory leadership - as it happened

Q: What is your response to Douglas Carswell’s reaction to your news?

Farage says Carswell does not often smile, so it’s good to see him pleased.

Q: Are you putting yourself forward to be part of the Brexit negotiating team?

Farage says he is not putting himself forward. But he has expertise, and he is available if people want him.

Q: What do you think of the attacks on people like Poles since the referendum?

Farage says some appalling things have been said. But he says bad things have been done on both sides.

Farage says he would not put too much money on Douglas Carswell being the next Ukip leader.

Q: Will you serve out your remaining two years as an MEP?

Farage says he hopes the next prime minister will complete the job in less than two years. Then the Ukippers will have been the turkeys that voted for Christmas.

Q: Do you think the tone you took in the European parliament last week will help the negotiation process?

Farage says he was being shouted down. It was so bad that Martin Schulz, the president of the parliament, intervened to help him, which normally never happens. So he was only giving MEPs a taste of what they gave him.

And it is important not to be weak in the negotiations, he says.

He says the UK has a strong negotiating position. He says countries without trade deals with the EU sell goods worth £1.5 trillion into Europe.

Q: Some leave campaigners have been claiming you had nothing to do with leave winning? And they say it was not about immigration. What do you think about that?

Farage says that is what career politicians do.

There would not have been a referendum without Ukip, he says.

If it had not been for Ukip’s willingness to take on issues that people at Notting Hill dinner parties find tricky, leave would not have attracted all the support it did.

Q: Who should be the next Ukip leader? Douglas Carswell?

Farage jokes that he likes that idea. (He and Carswell are fierce opponents.)

He says he will not express a view. May the best man or woman win.

Q: Who do you want to see as Tory leader?

Farage says it has to be a Brexit leader. But he says just because the Ukip donor Arron Banks is backing Andrea Leadsom, that does not mean he is.

• Farage says new Tory leader must be a Brexiter - but he does not back any particular candidate.

Q: Will you form a new party with Banks, as he has suggested?

Farage says Banks does not speak for him.

He says he will continue supporting Ukip. And he will continue to lead the Ukip group in the European parliament.

• Farage rules out forming a new party.

If the government backtracks over withdrawal, Ukip’s best days could be ahead.

Q: Would you like to cooperate with other parties?

Farage says, if there were an election this autumn, he would not want Ukip to stand against Brexit MPs.

• Farage says, if there is an early election, Ukip should not stand against Brexit MPs.

But he says he thinks in the long term new parties could emerge.

Q: What role do you want Ukip to play in the withdrawal negotiation?

Farage says he wants this to be a cross-party effort. And he says Ukip has expertise that it can offer.

Farage is now taking questions.

He says he is pleased he changed his mind after he resigned following the election last year. But he will not change his mind again.

• Farage says this time he won’t change his mind about resigning.

Farage says during the campaign he said he wanted his country back.

But now he is saying he wants his life back.

And that’s it.

Farage is now talking about his future.

He says he now feels he had done his bit. He could not possibly do more.

• Farage announces he is resigning as Ukip leader.