The Labour leader has written to 116 Tory and independent MPs, including Mrs May and Mr Hammond – who is on record as saying he will do “everything in my power” to prevent a no deal Brexit – asking them to support efforts to do just that. Other prominent names on the list of recipients include former Tory leadership contenders Rory Stewart and Jeremy Hunt. Mr Corbyn had earlier met with the leaders of other parties in Westminster, including Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson, with them striking an agreement to prioritise a legislative approach rather than an effort to oust Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.
Mr Corbyn has confirmed he will not immediately push ahead with a move to replace Mr Johnson through a vote of no confidence.
The idea met resistance because of his plan to lead a caretaker government.
Other opposition figures had called for a compromise candidate who would be more likely to command a cross-party Commons majority as an interim prime minister, with Ken Clarke and Yvette Cooper both being mentioned as possible candidates.
Mr Corbyn said: “We know there is a majority in Parliament against no deal. As MPs, we’ve voted against no deal on a number of occasions and we did so in the largest number on March 27 of this year.
“As you were one of 116 Conservative or independent MPs who voted against no deal that day and are not on the Government frontbench, I am writing to you to offer to work together, in a collegiate, cross-party spirit, to find a practical way to prevent no deal.”
After the cross-party talks, Mr Corbyn said: “We are putting first the legislative proposal next week and that’s what the agreement was reached this morning to do, that’s what we are doing.
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Jeremy Corbyn said the other party leaders had agreed he would “put forward a proposal which will make sure that Parliament is able to debate a legislative way of preventing the Government crashing us out with no deal”.
He said: “I will propose the parliamentary process which would mean the legislation can be laid.”
“The legislation will be laid by people from all of the opposition parties and will be supported by some Conservative MPs as well.”
Asked if he thought Theresa May and Philip Hammond would work with him on efforts to block no deal he said: “They will get the letter just like everyone else and I hope that they will reflect that they voted against no-deal, as indeed I did, as indeed many, many other colleagues did from all parties, because crashing out without a deal I think would be very bad for our economy and be quite disastrous for many industries and jobs in this country.”
Earlier, Anna Soubry, the former Tory MP who is now a member of Change UK, tweeted: “Excellent meeting between all the opposition party leaders this morning.
“We agree we will work together to stop a no deal #Brexit by legislation.”
In a letter to Mr Corbyn yesterday, Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson said: “As you have said that you would do anything to avoid no deal, I hope you are open to a discussion about how conceding this point may open the door to a no-confidence vote succeeding.
“Its success must be the priority.”
