A leaked Brexit battle plan shows Remain-backing MPs are plotting to topple Boris Johnson in the weeks leading up to October 31 and then force through laws to stop Britain leaving the EU without a deal.
The strategy document reveals MPs want to hit the Prime Minister with a vote of no confidence in the run up to the Halloween deadline if No Deal looks likely.
They will then use a 14 day period, set out in law and supposed to be used to allow a new government to be formed, to take control of the House of Commons.
They would use the time to pass legislation requiring Mr Johnson, who would effectively then be a lame duck premier, to ask Brussels for a further Brexit delay.
A general election or second referendum would then follow in order to break the Brexit deadlock.
The revelation came as it emerged Jeremy Corbyn has told Labour MPs to cancel all of their travel plans in early September ahead of an expected no confidence push against Mr Johnson.
The process of MPs being given permission to miss votes, known as ‘slipping’, will also be suspended by Labour to give the opposition the best possible chance of winning the vote, according to reports.
Boris Johnson will almost certainly face a vote of no confidence before October 31 but there are still questions over exactly when the vote could be held
Jeremy Corbyn has long insisted that he will seek a vote of no confidence when he believes it has the best chance of success amid reports he has told Labour MPs they must be in Westminster in early September
Mr Johnson is facing a growing rebellion against his ‘do or die’ pledge to take the UK out of the EU with or without a deal on October 31.
The Commons is in recess until September 3 but Europhile MPs are using their summer break to come up with plans designed to block the PM if he pursues a disorderly split from the EU.
Such an outcome appears increasingly likely with the EU refusing to budge on the crunch issue of the Irish border backstop which Mr Johnson has said must be deleted for him to agree to a revised deal.
A leaked strategy document obtained by The Times which has reportedly been circulated among Labour and Tory Remain-backing MPs suggests rebels want a no confidence vote to be held in the weeks leading up to October 31.
Assuming Mr Johnson loses that vote, MPs would then try to take control of the Brexit process by passing a law requiring the PM to ask EU leaders at a summit scheduled for October 17 to agree a further Brexit delay and therefore stop No Deal.
MPs want to take advantage of a provision in the Fixed-term Parliaments Act which states that after a successful vote of no confidence there is a 14 day period for a new government to be formed.
But rather than try to form another government MPs would instead use the time to block a chaotic split from Brussels.
If no government can command a majority in the Commons at the end of those two weeks a general election would be triggered automatically.
The EU has previously said it would be willing to delay Brexit for a ‘good reason’ like a general election or second referendum.
The Remainer document states: ‘In the circumstances in which the government is defeated in a confidence vote, the 14-day period that follows must be used to prevent a prime minister crashing us out with no deal.’
The plan is thought to be one of a number under consideration by Remain-backing MPs who are desperate to stop a No Deal Brexit.
A vote of no confidence in Mr Johnson’s new government before October 31 now appears to be a certainty.
However, there are different schools of thought among rebels about when would be best to hold the vote.
Mr Corbyn, who as the leader of the opposition is best placed to ask the Commons Speaker to allow a vote of no confidence to be held, may be targeting a division in early September.
The Labour leader has reportedly told Labour MPs they must be in Westminster in the first two weeks of next month, according to The Telegraph.
Such a direction appears to suggest that Mr Corbyn is considering pushing the ‘nuclear button’ to try to oust Mr Johnson in a matter of weeks.
Mr Corbyn has long maintained that he will call for a vote when he believes he has the best chance of winning it.
It came after Caroline Lucas, the Green MP, was ridiculed after her dramatic call for an all-female Cabinet to take the reins of power, stop a No Deal Brexit, and deliver a second referendum.
Arguing that ‘women have shown they can bring a different perspective to crises’, Ms Lucas credited female campaigners for initiating both the Northern Ireland peace process and the Paris climate agreement.
Ms Lucas’s call to arms was sent as a letter to leading politicians from Labour, the Conservatives, the Lib Dems, the SNP, and Plaid Cymru.
But her proposal was heavily criticised on both sides of the political divide with Tory MP James Cleverly and Labour MP Diane Abbott both rubbishing the idea.