General election: Nigel Farage refuses to rule out Brexit Party standing aside in seats
He says he has "ruled nothing in" and "ruled nothing out" when asked about speculation his party could withdraw candidates.
Thursday 31 October 2019 19:49, UK
Nigel Farage has refused to rule out the prospect of the Brexit Party withdrawing candidates from hundreds of seats in the upcoming general election.
A report in the Daily Telegraph has suggested the party could instead target a small number of Labour-held seats in the 12 December poll.
Such a development would likely boost Boris Johnson's chances of winning a majority, as analysts expect the Brexit Party to take votes from the Tories if it puts up candidates across the country.
Asked if he was ruling out standing down hundreds of candidates, Mr Farage told the Press Association: "I've ruled nothing in, I've ruled nothing out.
"I am making a completely neutral comment ahead of our launch tomorrow."
The Brexit Party leader labelled the Daily Telegraph report "idle speculation", adding: "I have not spoken to anyone of any seniority in the party [about this]."
Mr Johnson has repeatedly ruled out an electoral pact with the Brexit Party.
Last month, Mr Farage offered the prime minister a non-aggression pact at the next election if he committed to pursuing a no-deal Brexit.
The Brexit Party leader has in recent weeks been critical of Mr Johnson's Brexit strategy and the fact that the PM failed to take Britain out of the EU on 31 October.
Intervening in campaigning on Thursday, US President Donald Trump said the pair would be an "unstoppable force" if they teamed up.
Former UKIP leader Mr Farage set up the Brexit Party earlier this year.
It came top in May's European elections as Labour and the Tories were on the receiving end of a Brexit backlash.
But the party's chances of success in the general election - which uses a different voting system to the European elections - are less certain.
The latest YouGov poll has the party trailing the Conservatives (36%), Labour (21%) and the Lib Dems (18%) with 13% of the vote.