Brexit: Boris Johnson and ‘wealthy friends’ will not bear cost of no-deal, Jeremy Corbyn warns

Labour leader will seek to galvanise trade unionists with promise of the ‘biggest people-powered’ election campaign ever seen

Jeremy Corbyn hosted a meeting on Tuesday of senior MPs on stopping no-deal Brexit (AFP/Getty )

Jeremy Corbyn will accuse Boris Johnson and his “wealthy friends” of recklessly pursuing a no-deal Brexit that will leave ordinary people counting the cost.

In a speech to the TUC, the Labour leader is expected to warn that chaotic departure will destroy jobs, push up food prices and cause medicine shortages – but Mr Johnson and his allies will not see their livelihoods put on the line.

Mr Corbyn will seek to galvanise thousands of trade unionists with the promise of the “biggest people-powered” election campaign ever seen, once the threat of a no-deal Brexit in October has been removed.

The prime minister was expected to suspend parliament for five weeks after opposition leaders blocked his fresh bid to trigger a “people vs parliament” election on Monday night.

But Mr Corbyn faced pressure from some union leaders to act sooner, with PCS boss Mark Serwotka demanding immediate action to oust a prime minister he deemed “worse than Thatcher”.

He will tell the annual conference in Brighton: “Johnson’s reckless no deal would destroy jobs, push up food prices in the shops and cause shortages of everyday medicines that people rely on.

“And who bears the cost of that? It wouldn’t be Johnson and his wealthy friends. It’s not their livelihoods on the line. It would be the rest of us.

“Just as it wasn’t the bankers Boris Johnson still defends who paid the price for the financial crash of 2008, it was tens of millions of people who had nothing to do with it.”

The Labour leader will vow to block Mr Johnson from dictating the terms of the forthcoming election, warning that “no one can trust the word of a prime minister who is threatening to break the law to force through no deal”.

Mr Corbyn will dismiss the government’s negotiations with Brussels as a “sham” and insist his first priority is to prevent no deal, then to trigger an election.

He will also warn that a chaotic Brexit will “put us at the mercy of Donald Trump and US corporations itching to get their teeth further into our NHS, sound the death knell for our steel industry, and permanently drive down rights and protections for workers.”

Earlier, opposition leaders confirmed they would unite to prevent Mr Johnson “crashing us out” of the EU in a no-deal Brexit in the midst of an election campaign.

But as a backbench bill requiring Mr Johnson to delay to Brexit if he cannot get a new deal receive royal assent, the prime minister’s official spokesperson said he would not seek an extension from the EU.

“The government will obey the law but the prime minister will not be asking for an extension,” the PM’s spokesperson said.

“The prime minister’s government will not be extending the article 50 process. We will be leaving on 31 October.”

James Cleverly MP, chairman of the Conservative Party, said: “Labour will do anything to cancel the referendum result.

“Despite spending years calling for a general election, Jeremy Corbyn doesn’t trust the people and he is now running scared. All Labour offer is more dither and pointless delay – costing our country £250m a week,” he said. “Only Boris Johnson and the Conservatives are committed to delivering Brexit by 31 October, no ifs or buts, so we can get the country back on the road to a brighter future.”