Jeremy Corbyn has insisted Labour will “do everything necessary” to halt a no-deal Brexit because “no-deal Brexit is really a Trump-deal Brexit.”
The Labour party leader accused the Prime Minister of “cosying up to Trump” as he prepares to meet other senior MPs to try to find a way to challenge Boris Johnson over EU withdrawal.
Before discussions on Tuesday with leading Commons figures opposed to breaking EU ties without an agreement in place, Corbyn insisted the country was heading for a crisis under the Prime Minister and that a no-deal exit from the EU would leave the UK “at the mercy of Trump and the big US corporations dying to get their teeth into our NHS, sound the death knell for our steel industry and strip back our food standards and animal welfare protections”.
Writing in the Independent, Corbyn also described such a move as a “bankers’ Brexit” that would benefit only the rich, adding: “The battle to stop no-deal Brexit isn’t a struggle between those who want to leave the EU and those who want continued membership.
“It’s a battle of the many against the few who are hijacking the referendum result to shift even more power and wealth towards those at the top.
“That’s why the Labour Party will do everything necessary to stop a no-deal bankers’ Brexit.”
Corbyn said an “injection of democracy” could come through a new referendum, or a general election.
He added: “In that election, Labour will offer a referendum, with a credible leave option as well as the option to remain.
“But we won’t rule out other options that could stop this no-deal disaster in its tracks. I’ll discuss all these options with the leaders of other opposition parties.
“I hope we can come to a good working arrangement and bring on board others across Parliament who see the danger of a no-deal crash-out.”
The comments came as The Guardian reported that legal advice prepared for the Labour leader by shadow attorney general Shami Chakrabarti claims that Johnson would be committing the “gravest abuse of power and attack on UK constitutional principle in living memory” if he shut down parliament to force through a no-deal Brexit.
Among those attending the cross-party talks on Tuesday is Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson.
Swinson, and other prominent opponents of a no-deal Brexit, have said Corbyn would not be the right candidate to lead a short-term national government if the Commons forced Johnson out of Number 10.
Opposition leaders attending the discussion with Corbyn on parliamentary tactics include SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford, the Independent Group for Change’s Anna Soubry, and Plaid Cymru Westminster head Liz Saville-Roberts.
Responding, James Cleverly, an MP and chairman of the Conservative Party, said: “Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party will do anything to try and block delivering the change that British people voted for in the referendum.
“The alternative to delivering Brexit is Jeremy Corbyn in Downing Street; a man who would wreck the economy, break up our Union, is soft on crime and won’t stand up for Britain. All Corbyn offers is chaos, delay and uncertainty. ”
The PM has insisted the UK will leave the EU on October 31 with or without a deal, but faces Commons clashes over the issue in coming weeks.
It is understood that Johnson is seeking to appoint Brexit-supporting peers to the House of Lords in a bid to get more support for the Government’s stance on Europe in the upper chamber.
Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph said that Johnson is sending his chief Brexit adviser David Frost to Brussels this week to hold discussions with EU officials.
The report came after Johnson said at the G7 summit in France that he was “marginally” more optimistic about securing a deal, but insisted that other EU states needed to shift ground.