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
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Your support makes all the difference.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:
More on the UK's reaction to the release of the supertanker Grace 1 today.
Britain has insisted Iran must abide by its assurances that a supertanker will not proceed to Syria following its release by Gibraltar.
Foreign Office minister Andrew Murrison has said Iran must be held to its assurances that Grace 1 does not end up supplying Bashar Assad's regime in Syria.
Commenting on the release of the supertanker, Mr Murrison said: "I hope very much that the written assurances that Iran have given about the destiny of Grace 1 will be supported and that we will not end up with Grace 1 ending up in an entity that has been the subject of sanctions by the European Union.
"We would want to hold Iran to that and ensure that, indeed, Grace 1 does not end up supplying Bashar al-Assad's regime."
Jeremy Corbyn has described the Tories anti-knife crime campaign focused on fried chicken shops as "offensive".
"This former youth worker says everything you need to know about the Tories' offensive chicken boxes," the Labour leader said, as he shared a clip of a man criticising the boxes.
"Our country is locked into a countdown until 31 October – it’s approximately six weeks before a no-deal Brexit as I write," says Labour MP Clive Lewis, in a column for The Independent.
"In the past two- and a-bit years we’ve seen MPs indulge in the luxury of time, wallowing in all manner of contortions, futility and posturing when it comes to the Brexit question. But like a convict whose hour of reckoning is at hand, the existential peril before us is only now beginning to really hit home.
"What Theresa May and all of her “compromises” and fudges were unable to achieve, Boris Johnson and his cabinet of amoral, neo-con, hard Brexiteers may yet unwittingly achieve – a cross-party coalition of those opposed to no deal.
"But we’re quite not there yet."
Read his piece here:
The Foreign Office has urged restraint in Hong Kong and said the situation should not cause "friction" between China and the UK after allegations of interference from Beijing.
Responding to allegations from China's ambassador in the UK, Foreign Office minister Andrew Murrison said: "There's no dispute about the status of Hong Kong.
"This country and China have had very good relations in recent years, and have done a great deal together, and I look forward to doing even more in the years ahead.
"So, this should not be a cause of friction between us.
Dr Murrison said: "I would urge restraint among those who have been engaged in violent behaviour over the past few days and I think we need to restore some calm to Hong Kong and proceed with dialogue."
The ambassador had implied allegations of hypocrisy against the UK.
Dr Murrison said: "I think what we would say is we stand up for peaceful protest that's an important part of the way we conduct ourselves in this country and I hope that would be universally applicable.
"I would urge restraint on those who have committed acts of violence and urge them to negotiate rather than commit to violence."
On a slightly lighter note, farmers protesting against Brexit marched up Whitehall today, bringing an impressive number of sheep with them:
High ranking Conservatives sound predictably critical of Jeremy Corbyn's caretaker government plan.
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."
Earlier today Conservative MP Guto Bebb broke ranks to support Mr Corbyn's plan.
Boris Johnson has taken to Twitter to insist that the 2016 referendum result must be respected.
Nicola Sturgeon has said that she will not rule out any options in a bid to avoid a no-deal Brexit.
During an Edinburgh Festival Fringe event on Thursday, Ms Sturgeon denied that the SNP is working on any deal with the Labour Party, but indicated that she would be open to forming a progressive alternative to a Tory government at Westminster.
"If you're asking me, 'are we working away doing a deal at the moment?', the answer is no, we're not," said Scotland's First Minister.
"I'm not having discussions with Jeremy Corbyn about this kind of stuff.
"But in a post-general election type scenario, what I've been saying is not new. If the arithmetic after an election lent itself to it, I would work in the SNP to be part of a progressive, alternative government.
"It doesn't make me a great fan of Jeremy Corbyn, I can't envisage a formal coalition between the SNP and Labour, but I would always try to work to put together an alternative to a Tory government."
Ms Sturgeon added: "I think it's reasonable to say that even, I would hope, the objective observers who are not any great supporter of the SNP would concede, we've been the most consistent anti-Brexit voice since the 2016 referendum.
"I've said all along, and we've been trying to work across parties, work with anybody and everybody in Westminster to try to put a coalition, a majority in the Commons, together to preferably stop Brexit altogether, but absolutely stop a no-deal Brexit.
"There are different ways that can be achieved. What Jeremy Corbyn has said today is by no means the only option.
Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general and a notable moderate Conservative, has said a national unity government led by Jeremy Corbyn is a "most unlikely way forward".
Mr Grieve told BBC Radio 4's PM programme: "The idea that Jeremy Corbyn could provide leadership for what would effectively be a government of national unity seems to me to be rather improbable.
"But he has written a letter in which he sets out his desire to prevent a no-deal Brexit, and on that I'm in agreement with him because a no-deal Brexit - in my judgment and that of a number of my Conservative colleagues - which seems to be being promoted by Boris Johnson is something which is going to have such a catastrophic impact on this country that the national interest requires me to work with others to try to prevent it."
Mr Grieve said he was happy to speak to Mr Corbyn about ways in which they might "co-operate" to stop a no-deal Brexit, adding: "Even for a short period a prime minister in a caretaker capacity has got to be somebody who can inspire trust - and such people do exist within the House of Commons and would be in a position to do that.
"I have to say that seeing Jeremy Corbyn's history, it's difficult to see how he could possibly be in a position to do such a thing."
Mr Grieve said it would be a "very good idea" for someone who does not want the job as prime minister permanently to be in the caretaker role, but would not speculate on candidates.
Jo Swinson has once again said she wants to meet with Jeremy Corbyn, to work together on a "deliverable plan" to solve the Brexit crisis.
"All the evidence is that Jeremy Corbyn does not have the support of enough Conservative MPs to command that majority, so I would urge him to be open to supporting alternative candidates for that role," she said.
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