The veteran left-winger called a special meeting with his team to brainstorm ideas to help him swoop in and take over the role of Prime Minister from Boris Johnson, Politics Home reports. The so-called away day will take place on September 2 in Salford, Manchester. The date is the day before Parliament returns after the summer recess and the beginning of the month before the Brexit Halloween deadline. The date is also significant because it arouses speculation Labour will table a vote of no confidence in Mr Johnson’s Tory Government and try to force a general election before the October 31 Brexit day in an attempt to stop the UK from leaving the EU.
Despite claims Mr Corbyn is in fact a Brexiteer, Labour’s policy is determined by a range of voices, including unions such as Momentum and Unite, who have demanded a second referendum.
Members of the Shadow Cabinet were told of the Manchester gathering earlier this week.
The news comes after reports Mr Johnson will hold a snap general election days after he pushes through Brexit.
Mr Johnson has denied this, despite talk of his plan to wipe out rivals the Brexit Party and Labour.
But Tim Bale, a politics professor at Queen Mary University in London, said a snap general election is “highly possible”.
“It’s a risky gamble but Boris Johnson could do so before October 31.”
The election gamble “is not unplayable,” he continued, adding that the new Prime Minster could do this to stop Parliament form sitting and force through a no deal Brexit, if it came to this scenario.
Mr Bale also quashed rumours of a Brexit Party-Conservative Party alliance.
He said: “No, [an alliance is not possible]. Quite the opposite – it will be a fight. Boris Johnson’s objective is to destroy the Brexit Party by leaving the EU no matter what.”
The next general election isn’t scheduled until May 2022, but the ongoing Brexit impasse could force an early vote.
It can be held if a majority of MPs in the 650-seat Parliament vote to hold one.
There are legal restrictions setting out a minimum period before an election can take place after the government loses a no-confidence vote, but not on the maximum period one needs to be held.
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Mr Johnson argues that the only way to secure a divorce deal would be to abandon the controversial Irish backstop, an insurance policy designed to prevent the return of border controls between EU-member Ireland and the British province of Northern Ireland that were ended by the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement.
The current accord says the UK will remain in a customs union with the EU “unless and until’ alternative arrangements are found to avoid a hard border.
