Nigel Farage faces calls to 'go further' after abandoning plans to contest Tory-held seats

Nigel Farage has faced calls not to field Brexit Party candidates in Labour marginal seats after he abandoned plans to contest those held by the Tories.

Senior Conservative figures have urged Mr Farage to “go further” after yesterday staging a humiliating climbdown from his vow to fight 600 seats in the general election.

Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said the Brexit Party leader’s promise to give 317 sitting Conservative MPs a free ride was a “good start” but not good enough to ensure Boris Johnson’s party will get a majority at the election.

He told the Sun: "It's a good start but if they want to deliver Brexit they've still got to focus on the fact that if they divide the vote they'll let Labour in.

Mr Duncan Smith added: "He's going to have to go further. This is a game of two halves - we've had the first half and now we're going to have the second half.

"The second half is where he gets to decide which seats he stands down from, and he's going to have to stand down from some of them."

It was reported Mr Farage refused to rule out a further withdrawal, even though he vowed in a column for The Daily Telegraph that the party would focus on fighting every Labour-held seat.

Asked if he might "back-pedal" and not challenge Tory candidates in marginal seats, Mr Farage told the paper: "I have just taken 48 hours to make this decision - allow this one to settle first."

Mr Farage's announcement on Tuesday was welcomed by Prime Minister Mr Johnson, who said it was recognition that only the Conservatives could "get Brexit done".

But opposition parties said the move showed the Tories and the Brexit Party were now "one and the same".

According to BBC's Newsnight, the decision came after a message from the Brexit Party to the Tories that Mr Farage needed a public declaration on two issues - that the transition period would not be extended and that he would negotiate a Canada-style free trade deal with the EU.

Writing in The Telegraph, Mr Farage said he saw "a chink of light" when he viewed the video posted on Twitter by Boris Johnson at the weekend.

Mr Johnson said he would not extend the planned transition period beyond the end of 2020 and that he would seek a "super-Canada-plus" style free trade agreement with the EU.

Writing in The Telegraph, Mr Farage said: "Now, The Brexit Party will focus its energies on fighting every seat held by Labour, which has betrayed more than five million of its voters, and all the Remainer parties.

"If we can win some of these seats, our presence in parliament will keep Boris Johnson honest and help to deliver Brexit.

"I have no great love for the Tories, but I can see that by giving Johnson half a chance we will prevent a second referendum. To me, that is the single most important thing for Britain. No matter how it is achieved."

But Liberal Democrat Brexit spokesman Tom Brake, responding to the reports that the pro-Brexit European Research Group held talks with the Brexit Party over Mr Farage's decision to stand down candidates, said: "These talks show that Nigel Farage is pulling the strings behind the scenes. He is the puppet master in Boris Johnson's Brexit horror show.

"Every vote for the Conservatives is a vote for an extreme Brexit agenda backed by Nigel Farage."

While campaigning in Hartlepool on Tuesday, Mr Farage claimed he was offered a peerage last Friday.

"Ridiculous - the thought they can buy me, a high-paid job; but I'm not interested, I don't want to know," he told the Daily Mirror.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Mr Farage's move could pave the way to a US trade deal, giving American pharmaceutical companies access to the NHS.

"One week ago Donald Trump told Nigel Farage to make a pact with Boris Johnson. Today, Trump got his wish. This Trump alliance is Thatcherism on steroids," he said.

Asked if Mr Farage may pull out more candidates, Benyamin Habib of the Brexit Party told Newsnight: "This wasn't choreographed. I think this was a decision that was come to after great consideration by Nigel."

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Farage's Brexit Party to stand down candidates in Tory-held seats