No-deal Brexit will leave UK at US' mercy, says British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn

LONDON: British opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has said that a no-deal Brexit would leave the UK at the mercy of US President Donald Trump.

Writing in the Independent newspaper, Corbyn accused Prime Minister Boris Johnson of "cosying up to Trump" because "no-deal Brexit is really a Trump-deal Brexit", the BBC reported on Tuesday.

Corbyn said that he believed the European Union (EU) referendum result was being hijacked by those wanting what he called a "bankers' Brexit".

"The Tories are going out with their begging bowl to billionaire hedge funders to raise cash for an autumn general election.

"The chaos and uncertainty caused by a no-deal Brexit is a potential goldmine for speculators betting against the pound.

"(No-deal Brexit) won't return sovereignty, it will put us at the mercy of Trump and the big US corporations dying to get their teeth into our NHS (National Health Service), sound the death knell for our steel industry and strip back our food standards and animal welfare protections."

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Corbyn further wrote in the Independent that he would "do everything necessary" to prevent no-deal Brexit and would discuss all options with other party leaders to "stop this no-deal disaster in its tracks".

The Labour leader, who wants to call a vote of no confidence in Johnson's government when Parliament returns after its summer recess, is due to meet other party leaders on Tuesday to discuss his plans to avert a no-deal Brexit, the BBC reported.

Corbyn hopes to take over as a temporary Prime Minister, seek an extension to Britain's October 31 EU departure date in order to avert a no-deal exit, and then call a general election.

Responding to Corbyn's article, Conservative Party Chairman James Cleverly said: "The alternative to delivering Brexit is Jeremy Corbyn in Downing Street, a man who would wreck the economy, break up our Union, is soft on crime and won't stand up for Britain.

"All Corbyn offers is chaos, delay and uncertainty."

Cleverly insisted only Johnson and the Conservatives can provide the leadership needed to deliver Brexit by October 31, "whatever the circumstances".