Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has joined forces with cross-party Remainer MPs in a plot to pass legislation to stop no-deal Brexit.
The leader of the Opposition met on Tuesday morning with representatives from the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party, the Scottish National Party (SNP), the Welsh nationalist Plaid Cymru, and the pro-EU Independent Group for Change. While Conservative MPs Dominic Grieve, Caroline Spelman, and Oliver Letwin all oppose Brexit, no Tories attended the meeting.
The Labour Party confirmed that the socialist wrote to 116 Tory or independent MPs “to offer to work together to prevent a No Deal outcome”, with recipients including former Prime Minister Theresa May and former Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond.
Prime Minister Johnson is said to be considering proroguing (suspending) parliament to stop Remainer MPs from denying the will of people and stopping Brexit, which the group said today in a statement had shown the prime minister “open to using anti-democratic means to force through a no deal”.
“The attendees agreed on the urgency to act together to find practical ways to prevent No Deal, including the possibility of passing legislation and a vote of no confidence,” the statement added.
Party leaders are expected to be fleshing out the plot in coming days, but The Guardian reports that Remain-backing MPs are planning to seize the House of Commons order paper and pass an anti-Brexit bill, the same manoeuvre employed by Yvette Cooper and Mr Letwin in April to force then-Prime Minister May to seek an extension of Article 50 over a no-deal Brexit.
Mr Johnson maintains that he can renegotiate the withdrawal treaty with the EU by the deadline, but has also ramped up preparations for a no-deal, pledging that Brexit will be delivered one way or another by Halloween.
A Number 10 source told The Telegraph that Corbyn’s plans actively undermine the government’s negotiating position with Brussels, saying: “We are now making progress because our European partners realise we are serious about leaving the EU on October 31 — no ifs, no buts.
“It’s utterly perverse that Corbyn and his allies are actively seeking to sabotage the UK’s position.
“This coalition of anti-democrats should be honest with the British public, they are against us leaving the EU no matter what.
“The Government believes politicians don’t get to choose which public votes they respect.”
Corbyn had written earlier in the day that he would do everything necessary to stop a no-deal bankers’ Brexit”, fearing that a clean exit would result in a trade deal with U.S. President Donald Trump. It had been anticipated that the socialist would try to convince his colleagues to back a vote of no-confidence in Johnson and install him as a caretaker prime minister, an option that Corbyn was forced to abandon.
He had called on Remain-supporting MPs to back him as interim premier two weeks ago, resulting in cross-party colleagues squabbling over who had more support or power to topple Boris.
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