We’ll Do Everything Necessary’ to Stop Nodeal Brexit, Says Corbyn

Opposition Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, said he would do everything necessary to prevent Britain leaving the EU without a divorce deal as he prepared to meet senior lawmakers on Tuesday to discuss tactics.

The UK is heading toward a constitutional crisis at home and a showdown with the EU as Prime Minister, Boris Johnson has pledged to leave the bloc in 66 days without a deal unless it agrees to renegotiate the Brexit divorce.

Corbyn wrote in the Independent newspaper that an EU exit without an agreement would leave Britain at the mercy of President Donald Trump and U.S. corporations.

“The battle to stop no-deal Brexit isn’t a struggle between those, who want to leave the EU and those who want continued membership.

“It’s a battle of the many against the few, who are hijacking the referendum result to shift even more power and wealth toward those at the top.

“That’s why the Labour Party will do everything necessary to stop a no-deal bankers’ Brexit,” Corbyn wrote.

Britain is on course for a no-deal exit on Oct. 31 unless parliament can stop it or a new agreement is reached with the EU.

The British parliament has rejected three times the withdrawal deal agreed between Johnson’s predecessor Theresa May and the EU, deepening a three-year crisis that threatens Britain’s status as one of the world’s pre-eminent financial centres and a stable destination for foreign investors.

Johnson held talks last week with German Chancellor, Angela Merkel; French President, Emmanuel Macron and European Council President, Donald Tusk.

Johnson discussed with them about his demand that the Brexit deal on offer is changed to remove the so-called backstop, an insurance policy to prevent the return of a hard border in Ireland.

He said on Monday he was prepared to take Brexit talks with the EU down to the last minute.

A UK official said that Johnson’s Brexit adviser David Frost would travel to Brussels on Wednesday for informal discussions.

One EU diplomat said Johnson had not made any big mistakes at the G7 summit in France at the weekend, his first outing on the international stage since taking office last month.

“The devil is in the detail. If we could get something similar and if this thing would not be called a backstop – we could have success.

“All this may mean that, in the end, Johnson will have proven himself to be a refined strategist rather than suicidal,” the diplomat said.

Lawmakers return from their summer break on Sept. 3, reconvening for a fight that will determine the fortunes of the world’s fifth-largest economy.