Nigel Farage told to stop milking the EU gravy train and quit as MEP

The former Ukip leader gets paid €100,000 as an MEP

Nigel Farage has resigned as Ukip leader but has not stepped down from his role in the European parliament (AFP/Getty)

Nigel Farage has been urged to resign and stop “milking the so-called Brussels gravy train”.

Mr Farage said he was standing down as leader of Ukip in a surprise announcement on Monday morning, saying he had “done his bit” in getting Britain to vote to leave the EU.

But the Liberal Democrats Foreign Affairs spokesman, Tom Brake, said he should also resign as an MEP after the Brexit politician said he “couldn’t possibly achieve more” and “wants his life back”.

Mr Brake said: “Nigel Farage has spent years attacking the so-called Brussels gravy train while doing his best to cash in on EU taxpayer-funded expenses.

“This rank hypocrisy has to end.

“It’s high time he did the honourable thing and resigned as an MEP and stopped milking taxpayers to push his divisive agenda.”

Mr Farage said during his resignation annoucement that he would remain as an MEP, for which he gets paid €100,000 a year - plus expenses.

He was elected to the European Parliament representing the South-East of England in 1999 but has one of the worst voting attendance records of any MEP.

Britain narrowly voted to leave the European Union on 23 June with 52 per cent of the vote.

The decision has caused turmoil in both the Conservative and Labour parties.

Mr Farage was heavily criticised for the anti-immigration tone of his unofficial Brexit campaign, Leave.EU.

The week before the vote, he unveiled a controversial poster showing a queue of refugees waiting to pass into Europe with the headline “Breaking Point”.

Ukip’s only MP, Douglas Carswell, condemned the posters as a “fundamentally wrong thing to do” on results night.

When the news of Mr Farage’s resignation emerged Mr Carswell tweeted a smiling face with sunglasses emoji.