Jeremy Corbyn must put the national interest first in stopping a no-deal Brexit

The Labour leader is entitled to put himself forward, but in the end he must be prepared to stand aside for a temporary prime minister to avoid leaving the EU without a deal

(Getty)

Jeremy Corbyn understands politics better than Jo Swinson does. The old leader of the Labour Party outwitted the new leader of the Liberal Democrats with his letter to opposition leaders this week. In it, he proposed that they should make him temporary prime minister charged with agreeing a further postponement of our departure from the European Union while a general election is held.

Ms Swinson responded to this invitation with the Meat Loaf caveat, as Sunder Katwala, the director of British Future, has named it. She will do anything to stop a no-deal Brexit, she declared, but she won’t do that.

This made her look churlish, especially when Nicola Sturgeon, leader of the Scottish National Party, Liz Saville Roberts, Plaid Cymru’s leader in Westminster, and even Guto Bebb, a Conservative opponent of no-deal Brexit, sounded positive about the plan. Ms Swinson admitted her error – in effect – when she later wrote to Mr Corbyn agreeing to discuss his plan with him.