Barry Gardiner insisted the Labour Party should be handed the chance to lead a caretaker government with the support of other opposition parties to prevent a no deal Brexit. Leader Jeremy Corbyn last week reached out to the SNP, Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru offering himself as a potential caretaker Prime Minister to stop Boris Johnson from taking the UK out of the European Union without an agreement. But Sky News host Sophy Ridge reminded the Labour frontbencher his party so far failed to win over the backing of other political parties in the Commons. 

Ms Ridge said: “I understand you genuinely believe that the best, most logical answer to this is a caretaker government led by Jeremy Corbyn but you do not have the numbers.

“That’s the reality, you don’t have the numbers. We know a lot of those Conservative MPs, or former Conservative MPs who oppose a no deal, would not support it. We know the Lib Dems won’t support it.

“What you are saying is your principles on this are more important than stopping no deal.”

Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson dismissed Mr Corbyn’s proposal for a caretaker government as “nonsense” and urged MPs to agree to appoint a senior colleague to lead a government of national unity.

JUST IN: Boris Johnson and Donald Trump set to agree September ‘free trade deal’ after secret talks

But Mr Gardiner hit back at Ms Swinson calling her “petulant” for rejecting the proposal: “Jeremy Corbyn is the leader of the opposition. Jeremy Corbyn put this forward – I think it was extremely petulant of Jo Swinson to come out and dismiss this proposal in the way that she did.

“It sounded as if she couldn’t take yes for an answer. She’s been saying we need to have a second referendum and remain needs to be on the ballot paper.

“They are now being offered a failsafe parliamentary procedural way of delivering that and they’re saying, ‘well, we’re not going to cooperate if Jeremy Corbyn is going to be the leader’.”

The Labour MP insisted his party would seek to take over with a motion of no confidence in Prime Minister Boris Johnson and would then call a general election on a manifesto pledging to deliver a second referendum on EU membership.

READ MORE: Remainers hope British people will ‘starve and die’ so UK will return to the EU

He also warned attempts to install someone other than Mr Corbyn as Prime Minister in the event of a no confidence motion victory would “propel” the Queen into a major democratic crisis.

Mr Gardiner continued: “You know very well that the natural constitutional process is that the leader of the opposition is called on by Her Majesty to lead a new government.

“If Jo Swinson wants to propel Her Majesty into a constitutional crisis where, instead of inviting the leader of the Opposition to form a new government, she invites somebody else who is not the leader of the political party then she’s forcing the monarchy into a very embarrassing and difficult judgement call they would have to make.”

But despite claims Mr Johnson could soon be removed, latest polls suggest the new Conservative leader has won over support across the country. 

DON’T MISS:

David Davis reveals EU leaders still believe Brexit won’t happen [ANALYSIS]
EU warned ‘Big Brother Brussels’ to face more trouble after Brexit as UK set for success [VIDEO]
Brexit Britain will become global leader in trade liberalisation, says LIZ TRUSS [COMMENT]

A YouGov survey of 1,687 British adults carried out between August 20-21 found 31 percent of respondents would vote Conservative in the next general election. Labour followed at 22 percent with the Lib Dems trailing the Opposition at 20 percent. 

Boris Johnson pledged to deliver on the result of the 2016 referendum “come what may,” as he insisted he wants to strike a deal with the European Union.

The Prime Minister urged the bloc to reopen the withdrawal agreement his predecessor signed up to last year to ensure the controversial Irish backstop is removed.

Brussels repeatedly rejected his demands, insisting the EU could not agree to a deal unless they can be sure there would be no hard border reinstated on the island of Ireland. 

Source: Read Full Article