Union baron Len McCluskey said Labour MPs should vote against any Brexit deal in a bid to topple Theresa May’s government (file pic)
Union baron Len McCluskey said Labour MPs should vote against any Brexit deal in a bid to topple Theresa May’s government.
The Unite leader, known as ‘Red Len’ for his hard-left views, suggested the national interest in getting a good deal should be sacrificed in the scramble for power.
Mr McCluskey, a close ally of Jeremy Corbyn, said he hoped the Brexit deal will be voted down by MPs this autumn, triggering a fresh election.
He said this would allow Labour to swoop in and seize control of No10 and usher in a totally new era of politics.
Speaking at a Resolution Foundation event in London today, he said: ‘The one important thing for me, the one thing I think all progressive left people should be concentrating on is removing this government.
‘That should concentrate all our minds. How quickly can we remove this Government?
‘I believe it can be done by Parliament rejecting the deal that comes back and forcing a General Election.
‘If Parliament fail in that I’m prepared to look at any other option, because I’m not prepared to wait for 2022.’
He added: ‘My personal hope and belief is that in later autumn the deal that comes back to parliament will be rejected.
‘It will lead to Theresa May having to resign and it will lead to an early general election in 2019. That then becomes a referendum.’
His intervention comes as peers debate the Brexit Bill today, where arch Remainers have vowed to try to thwart its passage.
Len McCluskey, a close ally of Jeremy Corbyn, said he hoped the Brexit deal will be voted down by MPs this autumn, triggering a fresh election which would force Theresa May (pictured with her Cabinet in No10 today) from office
Remain ringleaders including Labour’s Lord Adonis have vowed to try to force a second referendum in the hope of stopping Brexit altogether.
Mr McCluskey, the boss of Britain’s biggest trade union, said Mrs May might move ‘more and more to a soft Brexit’.
He added: ‘I’m relying and hoping the Parliamentary set up we have defeats it. If we don’t I’m prepared to look at any other options.
‘My personal hope and belief is that in late Autumn of this year the deal that comes back to Parliament will be rejected.
‘It will lead to Theresa May having to resign and it will lead to an early general election in 2019.’
Mr McCluskey said Mr Corbyn is the ‘saviour’ of Labour and took a swipe at party moderates for staging ‘pointless coups’ to try to oust him.
And he said that the collapse of Carillion shows that Britain the capitalist system is ‘crumbling’ and on the brink of collapse.