NIGEL Farage has confirmed he will not stand down any more candidates to help the Tories win a majority in the General Election as he condemned the “aggressive intimidation” of Brexit Party candidates.
His intervention came with just hours to go before the 4pm deadline for candidates to confirm their nominations or withdraw.
Mr Farage claimed that if the Conservatives "showed some reciprocity," then more Brexit Party supporters would be likely to support them in the 317 seats in which Brexit Party candidates would not be sitting.
The anti-EU MEP also accused Boris Johnson's party of only caring about getting a Conservative majority in Parliament and not about securing a pro-Leave majority.
"We are going to fight Labour in every seat in this country, be in no doubt," declared Mr Farage at a Brexit Party rally in Hull.
He said he thought that the Tories would have been grateful after he withdrew candidates in the 317 seats the Conservatives won at the last election but noted that they had shown "a refusal on their part to give an inch" since his announcement.
Asked whether he would consider a last-minute withdrawal of candidates, Mr Farage replied: "No, we're not, although what we're seeing is the most incredible, aggressive intimidation of our candidates.
"Here we are, in a free and fair democracy. Putting ourselves up for public office is a right, and yet there are people who are effectively being denied that right because they are being intimidated, and told they mustn't stand because if they do the next four weeks will be hell. It's disgraceful."
Acknowledging that some of his party's candidates had received abuse from people wanting them to stand down, Mr Farage told his audience: "I think that is a complete and utter disgrace, I really do."
He added that he feared the Prime Minister would produce a deal that is "Brexit in name only" if Brexit Party MPs did not gain seats in Parliament and were unable to hold him to account.
Asked if he feared splitting the Leave vote, the party leader said: "I'm very worried about the Leave vote being split, very, very worried about these constituencies that have been Labour for decades, where the Conservatives have never won, can never win, and yet they are still putting up a candidate against our candidates who are the challengers to Labour in those seats.
"It tells me all I need to know about the Conservative Party. All they care about is the party, not getting a Leave majority in Westminster," insisted Mr Farage.
He explained that the desire of his supporters to vote for the Brexit Party and not the Conservatives in the 317 seats where candidates have been stood down was a “real source of torture".
He stressed: "I know they wanted to vote for the Brexit Party and the interesting thing is, because of the way the Conservatives have behaved, a lot of them are telling me they're just going to turn up at the ballot box and write Brexit Party on the piece of paper."
Mr Farage added the Tories could have "used my gesture, showed some reciprocity and they would have got some goodwill from the Brexit Party supporters in those seats and they haven't done that".
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