Jeremy Corbyn: No-deal would leave UK 'at mercy of US'

A no-deal Brexit would leave the UK at the mercy of US President Donald Trump, Jeremy Corbyn has claimed.

Writing in the Independent, the Labour party leader accused the PM of “cosying up to Trump” because “no-deal Brexit is really a Trump-deal Brexit”.

On Monday, PM Boris Johnson said he was “marginally more optimistic” about striking a new Brexit deal with the EU.

Mr Corbyn is due to meet with other party leaders on Tuesday to discuss his plans to avert a no-deal Brexit.

The Labour leader wants to call a vote of no confidence in Mr Johnson’s government when Parliament returns after its summer recess.

He hopes to take over as a temporary prime minister, seek an extension to Britain’s 31 October EU departure date, in order to avert a no-deal exit, and then call a general election.

Asked at the end of the G7 summit in France about the possibility of MPs thwarting plans to leave the EU at the end of October, Mr Johnson said: “I think it’s the job of everybody in Parliament to get this thing done.

“I think it’s what the people want, I also think, by the way, it’s what our friends and partners on the other side of the Channel want – they want it over.”

But Mr Corbyn says he believes the EU referendum result is being hijacked by those wanting what he called a “Bankers’ Brexit”.

He writes in the Independent: “The Tories are going out with their begging bowl to billionaire hedge funders to raise cash for an autumn general election.

“The chaos and uncertainty caused by a no-deal Brexit is a potential goldmine for speculators betting against the pound.”

He added: “[No-deal Brexit] won’t return sovereignty, it will put us 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.”

The Labour leader also said the Conservatives would seek to reduce the power of workers, consumer protections, bankers’ tax bills and the regulations that stop them abusing their power.

The SNP, Liberal Democrats, Change UK, Plaid Cymru and Green Party have all accepted the invitation to meet Mr Corbyn and discuss his proposals.

However, Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson has said Mr Corbyn’s proposals risk jeopardising a potential vote of no confidence in the government.

In a letter to the Labour leader, she said his insistence on being interim leader meant there was a danger not enough MPs would support the vote.

Responding to Mr Corbyn’s newspaper article, Conservative Party Chairman James Cleverly said: “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.”

He insisted only Mr Johnson and the Conservatives can provide the leadership needed to deliver Brexit by 31 October, “whatever the circumstances”.