Nigel Farage: 'Extraordinary... levels of abuse and intimidation' suffered by Brexit Party candidates like Venezuela
Nigel Farage has told of the "extraordinary... levels of abuse and intimidation" Brexit Party candidates are suffering, comparing it to the situation in Venezuela.
Also on Thursday, Mr Farage insisted the Brexit Party will not stand-aside for Labour Leave candidates in any seats.
Speaking to voters in Hull, the 55-year-old said his party will "fight Labour in every seat in this country, be in no doubt".
He also confirmed that he will not stand down any more candidates to help the Tories win a majority in the General Election, with hours to go before the 4pm deadline for candidates to register.
In an interview with ITV News, the 55-year-old also condemned the level of abuse against Brexit Party candidates, comparing it to Venezuela, where in recent months thousands of anti-government protesters have taken to the streets over food shortages and claims of corruption, and hundreds have been injured.
Mr Farage told Correspondent Emma Murphy: "The levels of abuse and intimidation that candidates are coming under is just extraordinary, you'd have thought this is Venezuela, not the 21st Century democracy in the United Kingdom."
When asked what kind of abuse, Mr Farage said: "One of our freedoms in life is that freedom to vote or not to vote, but it's equally the freedom to stand for public office and what is going on here is willful intimidating attempt 'if you stand in this vote...we're going to make your lives hell, we're going to follow you'."
He added: "I think the whole thing is a disgrace." before adding: "Who's it's being organised by, who's it being engineered by I don't know but I can tell you it's happening on an industrial scale."
Mr Farage also told of his anger that the Conservatives had not "given an inch" after the Brexit Party said it would not challenge the 317 Tory-held seats.
He added that, if the Conservatives "showed some reciprocity”, more Brexit Party supporters would be likely to back the Tories in the 317 seats where the party had stood down.
He also accused Boris Johnson’s party of only caring about getting a Conservative majority in Parliament, and not about securing a pro-Leave majority.
Mr Farage said that he couldn't vote for the Conservatives "given the way they have behaved this week".
He added that he had "no love or trust" for the party after their 'broken' promises in their manifestos.
Asked whether he would consider a last-minute withdrawal of candidates, Mr Farage said: "No, we’re not, although what we’re seeing is the most incredible, aggressive intimidation of our candidates."