Poll: Most Britons Prefer a No-Deal Brexit over a Prime Minister Corbyn and Second Referendum

Corbyn
Rob Stothard/Getty Images
Victoria Friedman

A poll has revealed that most Britons back a no-deal Brexit over Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn becoming a caretaker prime minister and calling a second EU referendum.

The YouGov poll published Saturday revealed that 48 per cent of Britons back the UK leaving the EU “without a Brexit deal, but Jeremy Corbyn does not become prime minister”, versus 35 per cent who said they would prefer that “Jeremy Corbyn becomes prime minister and holds a second referendum on EU membership including an option to stay in the EU.”

The poll comes after the socialist leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn called on MPs to install him as a caretaker prime minister, in the event of a no confidence vote in Prime Minister Boris Johnson, to stop a clean exit on October 31st.

Mr Corbyn wrote on Wednesday: “Following a successful vote of no confidence in the Government, I would then, as Leader of the Opposition, seek the confidence of the house for a strictly time-limited temporary Government with the aim of calling a General Election, and ensuring the necessary extension of article 50 to do so.

“In that General Election, Labour will be committed to a public vote on the terms of leaving the European Union, including an option to Remain.”

The offer was not warmly received by others in the Remainer camp, including Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson who said that Mr Corbyn “is not the person who is going to be able to build an even temporary majority in the House of Commons for this task”.

The poll’s findings back another by Opinium published this week which revealed that a plurality of Britons (46 per cent) would back leaving the EU on time, even without a deal, over delaying (12 per cent) or altogether cancelling (29 per cent) Brexit.

Another poll by ComRes found that a majority, 54 per cent, of Britons back the prime minister delivering Brexit “by any means, including suspending Parliament if necessary, to prevent MPs from stopping it” — an option Mr Johnson is said to be considering.

Mr Corbyn is not the only Remainer MP to have said that he would back a vote of no confidence in Boris Johnson and become a caretaker prime minister to stop a no-deal Brexit on October 31st.

Ken Clarke — the Tory grandee who famously said he looked forward to the day that the British Parliament “is just a Council Chamber in Europe” — said that he would to take on the leadership role to stop the UK leaving the EU on time and renegotiate a softer Brexit deal with the EU that would pass in the Remainer-dominated parliament.

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