Boris Johnson news: Farage sparks backlash after ‘bottling it’ by dropping Brexit Party candidates in Tory-held seats

General Election: Nigel Farage says Brexit Party will not contest seats won by Conservatives in 2017

Nigel Farage has said his Brexit Party will not contest the 317 seats won by the Conservatives at the last general election, claiming his party will only fight seats held by Labour and “the rest of the Remainer parties”.

The right-wing party leader came under huge pressure to drop hundreds of candidates – with the Leave.EU campaign group threatening to release a tactical voting app showing Leave voters where they should back the Tories.

It comes as Boris Johnson pledged to protect Armed Forces veterans from “vexatious” legal action, as he announced a series of measures to support military personnel. Jeremy Corbyn, meanwhile, has vowed to boost conditions for forces families by improving housing support and access to schools.

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Key Points

• Farage says Brexit Party won't contest Tory seats
• Brexit Party leader accused of 'bottling it' by Labour
• Labour peer says he has 'problems' with Corbyn as PM
• Tory plan to water down Human Rights Act would 'make UK a pariah'
• BBC apologies for three-year-old Johnson wreath-laying footage

[11 November 2019 17:55 · Ashley Cowburn]

Labour would make 'collective' decision over use of nuclear weapons

A Jeremy Corbyn-led Labour government would make a “collective” decision on whether to use nuclear weapons in response to an imminent threat, the party’s shadow foreign secretary has said.

Emily Thornberry came under fire from Conservatives after suggesting that Mr Corbyn would share the decision on whether to press the nuclear button with senior colleagues.

Labour’s official policy is to retain the UK’s independent Trident deterrent, but the party leader has previously said that he would not be willing to use nuclear weapons.

[11 November 2019 18:20 · Ashley Cowburn]

The BBC has been criticised after broadcasting archive footage of Boris Johnson laying a wreath on Remembrance Sunday in 2016 instead of showing this year’s ceremony, during which the prime minister put the flower arrangement upside down at the foot of the Cenotaph.

The corporation was accused of “covering up” Mr Johnson’s blunder when it broadcast the 2016 footage on BBC Breakfast on Monday morning in news coverage of Sunday's commemorative event.

The mistake caused conspiracy theories to form among social media commentators, who suggested the swap was deliberate, and done to spare the prime minister's blushes as the election approaches.

[11 November 2019 18:36 · Ashley Cowburn]

Farage claims he was offered peerage days before standing down Brexit Party candidates in Tory-held seats

Nigel Farage claims he was offered a peerage just three days before standing down Brexit Party candidates in 317 Tory-held seats.

The party leader rejected accusations of a pact with Boris Johnson for the sudden ditching of his plan to fight for “a real Brexit” in every seat at next month’s general election.

But, asked if he was offered a peerage, he replied: “I was offered one last Friday."

[11 November 2019 18:55 · Ashley Cowburn]

The perils of a December election, from Labour frontbencher Louise Haigh

[11 November 2019 19:20 · Ashley Cowburn]

Green candidate steps aside to help Labour unseat Iain Duncan Smith

The Green Party candidate in Iain Duncan Smith’s constituency has stood aside with the aim of helping Labour unseat the former Conservative leader in next month’s election.

The move in Chingford and Woodford Green is the second occasion on which Greens have stood down candidates locally in Labour’s favour in Tory-held marginals, in what appear to be informal anti-Conservative initiatives not sanctioned by the party centrally.

It is certain to fuel demands for similar arrangements around the country, following the announcement by Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage that his party is standing aside in all 317 seats taken by Tories in the 2017 election.