Boris Johnson news: Labour calls Swinson 'childish' after Lib Dem leader rejects Corbyn plan to thwart no-deal Brexit by becoming PM

Conservative MP breaks ranks to support plan as Brexit crisis continues

Jeremy Corbyn calls on opposition parties to make him caretaker PM

Jeremy Corbyn has challenged opposition parties and Tory rebels to instal him as caretaker prime minister so he can call a general election and prevent a no-deal Brexit under Boris Johnson.

Jo Swinson dismissed the plan as “nonsense”, saying the Labour leader could not unite opposition MPs, before proposing either Ken Clarke or Harriet Harman as a more suitable caretaker PM.

But Labour MPs rallied around the plan, urging Ms Swinson to reconsider her position.

The Lib Dem leader was branded “childish” by shadow education secretary Angela Rayner. The SNP, meanwhile, claimed they would work with Mr Corbyn, while a group of rebel Tory MPs said they were “happy to meet” him to discuss his plan.

Ms Swinson said she wanted to meet Mr Corbyn to discuss a solution to the Brexit crisis.

Meanwhile, the caretaker government plan has infuriated Tory MPs.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: "I think it's absolutely extraordinary that any Conservative MP considered even for one minute installing Jeremy Corbyn in Downing Street.

"Jeremy Corbyn would wreck our economy, he would destroy jobs and the livelihoods, savings, I think he also can't be trusted with security or crime and ... I just think that any Conservative should think very, very hard about doing this. It actually presents a very clear choice.

"You either have Jeremy Corbyn as prime minister overturning the result of the referendum or Boris Johnson respecting the referendum, putting more money into the NHS, more police on the streets to keep us all safe."

Conservative MP Guto Bebb did break ranks to support Mr Corbyn's plan.

If you would like to see how the day's news unfolded, please see what was our live coverage below:

[15 August 2019 12:00 · Adam Forrest]

Campaigners who believe a no-deal Brexit would be so baaa-d for business it could force half of UK farms out of business have herded a flock of sheep along Whitehall.

Six sheep were led past government buildings by the People’s Vote campaign group during the launch of its Farmers for A People’s Vote offshoot.

The spectacle, which lasted around half an hour, ended outside The Farmers’ Club at 3 Whitehall Court, where the groups held a press conference to launch a report about the effects of no deal on agriculture.

Panellists included Welsh Conservative anti-Brexit MP Guto Bebb, who said he will step down at the next election over Brexit and branded the consequences of no-deal “devastating”.

Dr Sean Rickard, former chief economist of the National Farmers’ Union, said the farming and food industries would be “most vulnerable” to the impacts of no deal.

“We are in a state of utter trading madness if we crash out of Europe,” he said. Farmers would face very high tariffs on exports to the EU and be placed into a “vicious pincers movement”, he said.

Protesting farmers lead sheep down Whitehall (EPA) 

[15 August 2019 12:37 · Ashley Cowburn]

Jeremy Corbyn has risked reigniting Labour‘s row over a Scottish independence referendum as he said he did not believe it was up to the UK parliament to block a vote.

It comes after John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, faced criticism from colleagues after saying a Labour government would not stand in the way of any decision of the Scottish people on the issue.

[15 August 2019 12:44 · Ashley Cowburn]

Responding to Jeremy Corbyn's remarks on a second independence referendum, the Scottish Liberal Democrats leader Willie Rennie said: "I feel sorry for Scottish Labour voters.

"They've been hung out to dry time and time again by a leader who gets it wrong on independence and wrong on Brexit."

He urged people who believe in Scotland remaining in the UK and the UK remaining in Europe to join his party.

[15 August 2019 12:51 · Adam Forrest]

Here’s our deputy political editor Rob Merrick with more on Jo Swinson’s call for Boris Johnson – and Jeremy Corbyn – to step aside for either the “father” (Ken Clarke) or “mother” (Harriet Harman) of the House to become caretaker PM.

[15 August 2019 12:56 · Adam Forrest]

The Lib Dems’ business spokesman Chuka Umunna has been tweeting.

He claimed Jeremy Corbyn “knows he can’t command a majority in the House”, but Ken Clarke and Harriet Harman “could”.

“If we are wrong on our analysis about Corbyn’s capacity to attract Tory rebels, Labour people carping about all of this need to name at least one Tory rebel who has categorically said they will vote for a temporary Corbyn premiership. The truth is there are none.”

[15 August 2019 13:14 · Adam Forrest]

Labour’s shadow education secretary Angela Rayner has accused Jo Swinson of being “childish”.

“Jo Swinson does not get to choose who the leader of the Labour party is … our leader is Jeremy Corbyn and she should respect the leader of the Labour party.”

“It’s quite childish, to be honest ... to say, “I’m not working with him because I don’t like him” I think is a very childish thing to do. She needs to reconsider that.”

[15 August 2019 13:24 · Adam Forrest]

Nicola Sturgeon has not ruled out helping Jeremy Corbyn become prime minister to stop a no-deal Brexit.

Questioned by the BBC if she would support the Labour leader to help install him as a temporary PM following a successful vote of no confidence, the SNP leader said: “We will work with anyone and we will explore any opportunity to stop Brexit.

“It’s no secret I’m not the greatest fan of Jeremy Corbyn but we won’t rule out any option if it helps avert what is a looming catastrophe of a no-deal Brexit.”

She said the SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford is working to get a majority at the House of Commons to stop a no-deal Brexit, “whatever that plan may be” and urged Corbyn to “finally and firmly come off the fence on Brexit and stop trying to equivocate and prevaricate”.

[15 August 2019 13:35 · Adam Forrest]

BREAKING: Police have cordoned off the Home Office, with multiple reports someone has been stabbed at the government building in Westminster.

[15 August 2019 13:44 · Adam Forrest]

A Conservative MP has renewed his criticism of Boris Johnson’s claim that some Remain-backing MPs have turned “collaborators” with Europe to block Brexit.

Guto Bebb, who has promised to step down over Brexit before the next election, said the PM’s comments about a “terrible collaboration” between Europe and Remain-supporting MPs in a Facebook Live Q&A, were “unforgivable” and “unacceptable”.

Bebb, MP for Aberconwy, initially responded by alluding to Jo Cox, the MP who was murdered days before the 2016 referendum, and the possibility of “threats” against MPs.

Commenting again on Thursday, he said: “Regardless of whether we leave the European Union or not, they are still going to be important partners for us moving forward, so the idea that anybody who thinks that we should be remaining is a ‘collaborator’ is frankly unacceptable.

“It’s implying that there is a certain lack of patriotism in those of us who are not supportive of the Brexit concept.

“Now, I'm not sure whether any political leader has the right to question the patriotism of others, and that is exactly what Boris Johnson is doing.”

Bebb said Mr Johnson must deliver a pre-referendum promise to secure a better deal from Europe or risk an “immensely damaging” no-deal scenario.

He refused to rule out quitting the Tory party altogether after stepping down, saying he sees “no reason to make a decision on that”.

[15 August 2019 13:50 · Adam Forrest]

Our chief political commentator John Rentoul has taken a closer look at what Jo Swinson said during her big speech this morning – and what she really meant.