Boris Johnson news: Corbyn urges Tory MPs to help block no-deal Brexit after opposition leaders agree plan at crunch meeting
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Your support makes all the difference.Jeremy Corbyn and other opposition leaders have agreed to try to stop a no-deal Brexit through legislation after efforts to install a caretaker prime minister floundered.
Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer has said it was time to “put aside fantasy politics” and find a strategy to enact “straight away” when parliament returns.
It comes as Boris Johnson prepares to create half a dozen new pro-Brexit peers to redress perceived Remain bias in the House of Lords.
The PM is sending his “sherpa” David Frost to Brussels this week to try to negotiate an alternative to the backstop with the EU.
Mr Johnson also told Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, that Britain will leave without a deal unless the backstop is “abolished”.
Commenting on reports Mr Johnson is planning to appoint potentially "dozens" of Lords, Darren Hughes, chief executive of the Electoral Reform Society, said: “Our parliament should not be used as a hand-out for big political donors and campaign apparatchiks.
“Amid discussion of Theresa May being granted a number of ‘resignation honours’ , the already super-sized House of Lords appears set to grow with more unelected appointees. Across parties, we have seen our democracy denigrated by the desire to stuff the second chamber with seats-for-life.
“The fact that Johnson would have to appoint a huge number to significantly rebalance the Lords shows the absurdity of the current set up: with each new PM trying to pack it with cronies in order to tip the scales in their favour.
“Let’s not forget that long after Brexit is over, these peers will be claiming expenses and deciding on our laws for the rest of their lives, if they choose to.
“This feudal relic needs to be scrapped and replaced with a democratic second chamber. It’s time to end the scandal of unelected power in modern Britain and give us a genuinely accountable upper house.”
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