A LIBERAL Democrat parliamentary candidate says he has been subjected to ‘ridiculous levels’ of abuse as anger over Brexit mounts.

Cllr Ryan Bate, who will be standing in Warrington South at the next general election, also admits it is ‘very difficult’ to ignore the Brexit-related tweets.

The Remain-backing politician said he has become the latest in ‘a long line of public figures’ on the receiving end of the ‘most ridiculous levels of abuse and unacceptable behaviour’.

But Cllr Bate confirmed there are some ‘fairly polite’ messages too.

“When people resort to this language it would suggest they don’t have the ability to articulate and defend their views in a rational, logical manner, so they have to resort to insults and degrading behaviour,” he said.

“I absolutely accept I am a public figure and have to defend my views but I would like to do that in an articulate discussion and not have abuse thrown at me.

“We are in a dangerous situation in the country and have lost the ability to debate views with respect.”

Warrington was one of the areas that voted to exit the EU in the referendum in 2016.

Leave won 62,487 votes in the town, which amounted to 54.3 per cent of the vote.

And Warrington 4 Brexit has urged Cllr Bate to justify his party’s ‘arrogant and divisive promise’ to revoke Article 50 and ‘cancel Brexit entirely’.

A spokeswoman said: “Our members are outraged at the latest Liberal Democrat policy, confirmed at their conference, which is to ride roughshod over 17.4 million voters and overturn the result of the 2016 referendum without even calling for a second one.

“This policy is profoundly anti-democratic.

“In the unlikely event that the Liberal Democrats were to win a majority at the next general election, there is no way they could claim they had a mandate to stop Brexit, since it would no doubt be on a fraction of the votes which Leave won in the 2016 referendum.”

Cllr Bate has responded to the comments from the campaign group.

He said: “We are saying that we are very much supportive of a People’s Vote in every scenario, except if there is a Liberal Democrat majority Government.

“If we are returned to a majority Government, I can’t see a situation where the vast majority of the public would expect an avowedly Remain party to be negotiating a withdrawal agreement.

“It is just not going to happen – you can’t negotiate something you don’t believe in.”

Cllr Bate also called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ‘respect’ Parliament to ensure the UK does not leave the EU without a deal.