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| British opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn |
British opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said on Tuesday he was ready to fight an election and his priority was to prevent a no-deal Brexit, suggesting Labour could back any move by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to call an early poll.
Corbyn has long said he wants an election to oust the governing Conservatives, but some in his party fear Johnson will use a threatened new poll to take Britain out of the European Union without a deal by by-passing parliament.
Corbyn, a long-standing critic of the EU, has said a general election and efforts to prevent a no-deal Brexit are not an โeither orโ choice, suggesting that Labour would press on with work to find ways to stop Britain from leaving the bloc without a deal even if an election campaign has begun.
After meeting leaders of other opposition parties, Corbyn said they were โunited in our opposition to Boris Johnsonโs plans for a no-dealโ.
He added: โWe are confident that the legislative route we have adopted has every chance of being successful and we are working on ways in which we can prevent Boris Johnson manipulating an election to force a no-deal Brexit.
โLabour wants to prevent a no-deal Brexit, and to have a general election, so we can end austerity and invest in our communities. I am confident we can have both, and weโve been in discussions about a way to achieve this.โ
Earlier, Corbyn was careful not to explicitly say that Labour would support a possible attempt by Johnson to call an election.
โLetโs see what happens after this legislation has gone through,โ he said. โAnd if an election is called, I am absolutely ready to fight it.โ
REUTERS
