Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn urges rebel Tories to help take down Boris Johnson and block no-deal Brexit

Opposition leader sets out plan for ‘strictly time-limited’ caretaker government to delay departure from EU and hold general election

Corbyn says he will push for no-confidence vote at ‘earliest opportunity’

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Demonstrators protest against Britain's new prime minister Boris Johnson outside Downing Street in London in July. Photo: AFP

Published: 7:32am, 15 Aug 2019Updated: 7:11pm, 15 Aug 2019

Britain’s opposition Labour Party has urged rebel lawmakers in the ruling Conservatives to help block a no-deal Brexit by bringing down Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s administration and allowing its leader Jeremy Corbyn to form a caretaker government.

Johnson has promised to take Britain out of the European Union by October 31, with or without a deal, setting the scene for a showdown in parliament where lawmakers are opposed to a divorce without a transition agreement.

In a letter to opposition party leaders and several senior Conservatives opposed to a disorderly exit, Corbyn said his “strictly time-limited temporary government” would delay Brexit and hold a general election.

He said Labour would campaign in the election to hold a second referendum on the Brexit terms, including an option as to whether the country should remain in the bloc three years after it voted to leave.

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn delivers a speech in Parliament Square in London in July. Photo: EPA-EFE

“This government has no mandate for No Deal, and the 2016 EU referendum provided no mandate for No Deal,” Corbyn said. “I therefore intend to table a vote of no confidence at the earliest opportunity when we can be confident of success.”