Brexit: Stop Boris Johnson forcing through no deal during election campaign, Labour urges civil service chief

Move comes amid fears Downing Street is preparing for Brexit on 31 October by any means necessary

Jeremy Corbyn has urged the head of the civil service to rule that Boris Johnson cannot force through a no-deal Brexit during an election campaign.

The Labour leader denounced reports Mr Johnson could call a snap poll around 1 November as an “unprecedented, unconstitutional and anti-democratic abuse of power”, and called on Sir Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary, to intervene.

In a letter to the senior mandarin, Mr Corbyn said the government must “let the electorate decide” the country’s future rather than allow the move to be forced through by a prime minister “elected not by the public but by a small number of unrepresentative Conservative Party members”.

The move comes amid mounting fears Downing Street is preparing to deliver Mr Johnson’s “do or die” pledge to deliver Brexit on 31 October by any means necessary.

Senior No 10 aide Dominic Cummings has told colleagues Mr Johnson would not need to resign if he lost a confidence vote, most likely tabled by Labour when parliament returns from recess in September.

Under this plan, the prime minister would then call a “people vs politicians” general election to be held after Halloween – so the UK would crash out of the EU during the election campaign.

Mr Corbyn said: “Forcing through no deal against a decision of parliament, and denying the choice to the voters in a general election already under way, would be an unprecedented, unconstitutional and anti-democratic abuse of power by a prime minister elected not by the public but by a small number of unrepresentative Conservative Party members.”

The Labour leader said there could be major “constitutional implications” for failing to obey strict election rules in such a scenario, as guidelines say decisions on matters of policy that a new government might object to must be postponed until after an election.

In the letter to the cabinet secretary, he said: “A Labour government will never support a no-deal exit, so would of course want the opportunity to take a different view.

“I would therefore be grateful for your confirmation that if the UK is due to leave the EU without a deal during a general election campaign, the government should seek a time-limited extension to Article 50 to let the electorate decide and the incoming government to take the next steps on the basis of the voters’ wishes.”

Sir Mark has reportedly told colleagues the “status quo” of Britain’s membership of the European Union must remain if a snap election is called at the end of October. He has referred them to the cabinet manual, which says ministers must “observe discretion” in the run-up to an election by avoiding making any “major policy decisions”.

However, the attorney general Geoffrey Cox is understood to believe there is no legal basis to prevent Brexit on 31 October, even if there is a general election at that point. The cabinet office confirmed it had received the letter and Sir Mark would respond to the Labour leader in due course.

But a senior Tory source dismissed the letter as a “political stunt”, adding: “Jeremy Corbyn will do anything to get his hand on the keys to No 10. No amount of letter-writing political stunts will change the fact that politicians don’t get to choose which public votes they respect.”

Downing Street aides have suggested an election could take place days after Brexit, if Mr Johnson is forced to go to the country by a no-confidence vote.

“We can’t stop them forcing an election but we control the timetable so we will force the date after 31 October,” one senior No 10 official told the Financial Times. “If there must be a general election, then it will be days after 31 October.”

On a visit to Oxfordshire on Thursday, Mr Johnson dodged questions on whether he would quit if he lost a confidence vote.

Pressed on the issue by reporters, he said: “We are going to leave the EU on 31 October, which is what the people of this country voted for, it’s what MPs voted for, and that’s what I think parliamentarians of this country should get on and do.

“I think that MPs should get on and deliver on what they have promised over and over and over again to the people of this country, they will deliver on the mandate of 2016 and leave the EU on 31 October.”

Mr Corbyn’s letter to the cabinet secretary comes as it emerged rebel MPs were in talks over a bid to cancel the annual autumn recess set aside for party conferences to prevent Mr Johnson crashing the UK out of the EU without a deal.