Splits in the anti-no deal alliance of lawmakers in the British Parliament on Friday threatened to stymie plans to stop a no-deal Brexit, as Conservatives and independent lawmakers ruled out backing plans brokered by Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.
The row between the Liberal Democrats and Labour deepened as London Mayor Sadiq Khan urged the Liberal Democratic leader Jo Swinson to seriously reconsider Corbyn’s offer to head a temporary government to stop a no-deal Brexit.
Former Liberal Democratic leader Vince Cable demanded Corbyn name a unity figure whom he would back if his plan failed.
Corbyn’s hopes of forming a unity government were fading on Friday as a number of prominent Conservatives working to stop no-deal Brexit ruled out any mechanism to put the Labour leader in No. 10 Downing Street.
Conservative lawmaker Dominic Grieve, who has previously suggested he could vote against the government in a confidence vote, said he would not go as far as facilitating a Corbyn government.
“Jeremy Corbyn is unfortunately a deeply divisive figure and in trying to stop a no-deal Brexit it is not my purpose to help him into Downing Street,” he said.
In the latest attempt to convince wavering lawmakers of Labour’s plan, Khan wrote to Swinson saying that her plan to install a Conservative or Labour grandee at the helm of a unity government was also not viable.
“The Liberal Democrats’ continued insistence that Jeremy Corbyn could not lead this potential unity government is now the single biggest obstacle to stopping no deal,” he wrote in a letter seen by the Guardian.
Khan, who has previously been an outspoken critic of Corbyn, including on his Brexit policy, said a vote of no confidence and a temporary Labour administration to extend Article 50 was the “only certain path” to stopping a no-deal Brexit.
In his letter, Khan said it was “crystal clear” that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s intention was to pursue a no-deal Brexit and that he was writing to Swinson “with a personal plea from one ardent remainer to another.”
“Constitutional experts are warning that there may be only one chance left to stop Boris Johnson delivering a no-deal,” he wrote. “That involves defeating his government in a vote of no confidence as soon as parliament returns in September, and then forming a short-term government of national unity in order to get an extension of Article 50 and trigger a general election.”
Khan said an alternative government forged in the 14 days after a no-confidence vote, before the triggering of an automatic general election, was the only guaranteed way to stop no-deal Brexit.
“There is no doubt that Jeremy Corbyn is the only viable choice to lead a temporary government of national unity in order to stop no-deal,” he said.
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