Brexit: Cross-party rebel alliance says it has numbers to stop Boris Johnson forcing through no deal

Politicians galvanised after PM’s appeal to the Queen to suspend parliament for nearly five weeks

MPs from across the political spectrum believe they have the numbers to block any “public school dirty tricks” that would allow Boris Johnson to force through a no-deal Brexit.

Shami Chakrabarti, the shadow attorney general, said Labour was expecting more Tories could join the rebel efforts following the “outrage of the abusive early shutdown” of parliament by the prime minister.

Mr Johnson provoked a furious backlash when he appealed to the Queen to suspend parliament for nearly five weeks, leaving MPs only a matter of days to attempt to stop no deal.

Amid fears Brexiteer peers were gearing up to filibuster anti-no-deal legislation, Baroness Chakrabarti insisted the majority of members of the House of Lords had more respect for parliamentary sovereignty than the prime minister.

The Labour peer also backed proposals by rebel MPs for parliament to sit over the weekend of 7-8 September to allow more time to pass laws to stop no deal before the 31 October deadline.

It comes after David Gauke, a former Tory justice secretary, said next week may be the only chance for MPs to stop a no-deal Brexit.

In an attempt to calm Conservative rebels, the prime minister called for both the UK and EU to “step up the tempo” on Brexit talks ahead of the looming deadline.

Asked if the movement to block no deal had the numbers, Baroness Chakrabarti said: “I think so and I think that the outrage of this abusive early shutdown of parliament has probably strengthened those potential numbers.”

She said more Tories might join their side, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “My own soundings and those of colleagues in discussions over the last couple of days, in particular since the constitutional outrage, give me greater comfort that minds are now focused, especially on the Conservative side.

Baroness Chakrabarti said she believed the measure could also get through the Lords, adding: “I know that all sorts of high jinks have been discussed, filibusters and so on, but I believe that there are means of preventing any sort of public school dirty tricks working, even in the House of Lords.”

She accused the government of behaving in an “unworthy” manner and urged people to take to the streets to protest against the “undemocratic behaviour”.

Leading Tory rebel Sir Oliver Letwin confirmed he had been in talks with John Bercow, the speaker, who was blindsided when Mr Johnson unexpectedly announced he had sought to prorogue parliament for more than a month.

“It’s perfectly true that I, for many months, have been talking to the clerks and to the speaker, and that’s the appropriate thing for MPs to do if they want to establish what the procedures are,” he said.

He said he believes “there probably is time” to get a measure to block a no-deal Brexit through parliament, but refused to be drawn on the number of supporters he had.

He said: “I know that there are a number of my colleagues who feel as I do, that a disorderly no-deal exit is a very bad idea, and they have in the past been willing to come and support efforts to prevent that happening and I very much hope that will happen again.”

Sir Oliver said the move could force Mr Johnson to delay Brexit beyond the 31 October deadline.

“I hope that we can take action this coming week so that if the prime minister hasn’t got a deal in place then he needs to seek an extension.”