UK opposition seeks to oust PM to avoid no-deal Brexit
LONDON AFP AUG15, 2019 - Jeremy Corbyn urged anti-boris Johnson MPS to make him Britain’s caretaker prime minister to avoid a no-deal Brexit -- but his proposal met with a mixed response on Thursday. The Labour main opposition leader said once in power, he would seek to delay Britain’s October 31 exit date from the European Union and then call a general election.
Corbyn -- the only person who can trigger a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Johnson’s government --will do so after MPS return to parliament on September 3, if he feels sure of victory.
Conservative PM Johnson has pledged to take Britain out of the EU on October 31, without a divorce deal if one cannot be agreed with Brussels.
With time running out, MPS opposed to Brexit, or at least to a no-deal departure, are scrambling for viable plans to stop Johnson in his tracks. In a letter to other opposition leaders and leading rebel Conservatives, Corbyn said his plan “can halt the serious threat of no deal, end the uncertainty and disarray, and allow the public to decide the best way ahead”.
While the Scottish Nationalists, the second-biggest opposition party in parliament, welcomed the idea, the Liberal Democrats, the next-biggest, dismissed it as “nonsense”, saying Corbyn could not lead the charge.
Corbyn -- the only person who can trigger a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Johnson’s government --will do so after MPS return to parliament on September 3, if he feels sure of victory