Jeremy Corbyn Launches Bid To Block No-Deal Brexit And Become Caretaker PM

15 August 2019, 07:04

Jeremy Corbyn has challenged opposition parties and Tory rebels to bring down the Government and then install him as caretaker prime minister to stop a no-deal Brexit.

The Labour leader has written to MPs, saying the administration would be "strictly time-limited" until a general election.

He says he would seek an extension to Article 50, delaying Brexit once again.

In a letter to MPs, Mr Corbyn wrote: "This Government has no mandate for no-deal, and the 2016 EU referendum provided no mandate for no-deal.

"I therefore intend to table a vote of no confidence at the earliest opportunity when we can be confident of success.

"Following a successful vote of no confidence in the Government, I would then, as Leader of the Opposition, seek the confidence of the house for a strictly time-limited temporary government with the aim of calling a general election, and securing the necessary extension of Article 50 to do so."

However, his offer has already been rejected by the Liberal Democrats. Leader Jo Swinson responded: "Jeremy Corbyn is not the person who is going to be able to build an even temporary majority in the House of Commons for this task - I would expect there are people in his own party and indeed the necessary Conservative backbenchers who would be unwilling to support him.

"It is a nonsense.

"This letter is just more red lines that are about him and his position and is not a serious attempt to find the right solution and build a consensus to stop a no-deal Brexit."

The SNP's Westminster leader Ian Blackford welcomed Mr Corbyn's letter and said his party would support a vote of no confidence in the Tories.