Anti no-deal coalition 'backs forcing PM to delay Brexit through law'

Anti no-deal coalition 'backs forcing PM to delay Brexit through law'

Three of those involved in the talks say the focus will not be on trying to make Jeremy Corbyn an interim prime minister.

By Aubrey Allegretti, political reporter,
EU flags at Westminster
Image: MPs have held talks on how to stop a no-deal Brexit
A cross-party coalition of MPs trying to block a no-deal Brexit in October have reportedly agreed they should focus on trying to write a law forcing Boris Johnson to delay.
Three of those involved in the talks said repeating the tactic used in April should take priority over a plan by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to try and oust the prime minister in a no-confidence vote.
Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson told Sky News there was "unanimity" that the "best way forward" was using "legislative approaches".
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Anna Soubry, leader of The Independent Group for Change, tweeted: "We agree we will work together to stop a no-deal Brexit by legislation."
And Plaid Cymru said in a news release that all parties involved agreed to "explore the best possible way of avoiding a no-deal using a legislative approach".
Mr Corbyn had been pushing for other opposition parties in parliament and rebel Tories to help install him as a caretaker prime minister to ask Brussels to delay Brexit and call an election.
But after he failed to win over key figures - both those on the government benches critical of Boris Johnson's stance on leaving the EU and the Liberal Democrats - he appeared to back a focus on using legislation to block no-deal instead.
Pro-Brexit demonstrators protest opposite the Houses of Parliament in London on December 5, 2018. - British Prime Minister Theresa May returns to the House of Commons today after a series of stunning defeats by MPs that threaten her government and could change the course of Brexit. (Photo by Ben STANSALL / AFP) (Photo credit should read BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images)
Image: No-deal is the legal default on 31 October
In a joint statement released after the meeting on Tuesday, the parties said they "agreed on the urgency to act together to find practical ways to prevent no-deal".
That includes "the possibility of passing legislation and a vote of no-confidence", they said.
The MPs have signed up to more meetings, as parliament prepares to return from its summer recess next Tuesday.
Mr Corbyn has also written to 116 MPs - a mixture of Conservatives and independents who have previously voted in parliament against no-deal - to urge them to join the "dialogue".
Meanwhile, all opposition parties attended an event at Church House - the site where parliament sat during World War II - to sign a pledge vowing to deploy "strong and widespread democratic resistance" if the prime minister tries to shut down parliament to force through no-deal.
Mr Johnson has pledged to ensure Brexit happens "do or die" on 31 October, and after attending his first major summit as part of the G7 in France this weekend said he was "marginally more optimistic" about getting Brussels to negotiate a good enough deal.
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He has meanwhile been offered a non-aggression pact at the next election, if one is held in the run up to Halloween, by Nigel Farage.
The Brexit Party leader told Sky News if Mr Johnson ditched the withdrawal agreement and campaigned for no-deal then "not only would we applaud that, we would want to support and help that project".