Caroline Lucas says Jeremy Corbyn has her ‘full support’ to lead emergency Government She said she supports the Opposition leader to head a caretaker Government to block no deal

Caroline Lucas said Jeremy Corbyn has her “full support” to lead an emergency caretaker government if Boris Johnson is ousted as Prime Minister over his Brexit strategy.

The Green Party MP said she would back the Labour leader to take charge of a Government of national unity if he won a vote of no confidence against Mr Johnson.

But, speaking at her party’s conference in Wales, she conceded that there was push-back in the Commons against Mr Corbyn taking control and, as a result, other candidates should be considered.

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“He does have my full support,” Ms Lucas told i. “I think, as the leader of the opposition, it’s entirely right and proper he is given the first opportunity to form a caretaker government and I would certainly support him in doing that.

Supports Corbyn

“But I also recognise there are voices around the House saying they won’t and, therefore, I think it’s important that we have a discussion about who else might be acceptable – if it’s the case that Jeremy Corbyn isn’t able to secure that majority.”

Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson has been reluctant to support Mr Corbyn as an interim prime minister, instead suggesting a senior backbencher – such as Ken Clarke or Dame Margaret Beckett- would have more success in uniting MPs.

‘Specific role’

But this has been dismissed by Labour’s shadow Chancellor John McDonnell who said the only leader of a government of national unity could be Mr Corbyn.

Ms Lucas said she believed the Lib Dem leader’s refusal to get behind Mr Corbyn was because her party’s target seats were largely Tory-held constituencies and “what Jo doesn’t want is for people to say ‘vote Lib Dem and get Corbyn'”.

But she added: “I think the bigger issue right now is the national interest so I wish she would support Jeremy Corbyn and I’ve publicly called on her to do so.”

Ms Lucas made it clear she would only support a caretaker government which undertook the “very specific role” of preventing a no-deal Brexit.

And she said it would need to ensure that Article 50 is delayed as per the so-called Benn Act – which legally obliges the Government to seek another Brexit extension if it cannot secure a deal.

‘We don’t trust Boris’

She said the “critical issue” with tabling a no confidence motion was “timing” because Mr Johnson could not be trusted not to use an election as a way of getting around a new law.

“We don’t want to be in a position of having an election or not being in Parliament as we run up to the 31 October because we don’t trust Boris Johnson because he’s playing games,” she said.

Mr Johnson and his Government are in talks with the EU over his proposed Brexit deal, which proposes installing two temporary borders in Northern Ireland.

Ms Lucas described the deal as “reckless” and said the only way she would vote for Mr Johnson’s proposed deal would be if he “link[s] it inextricably to a confirmatory ballot of the people”.

Reckless PM

“I’m deeply concerned about the recklessness of the deal in terms of potential for essentially the hard border and Northern Ireland, and the tensions that that would that would generate.

“And I think it’s entirely possible that, when he does the math, he’ll recognise that the only way you can get that deal through Parliament is if he links it to people’s vote.

“And there are many people actually on both sides of the house who have said that they will support almost anything as long as it is linked going back to the people with the option to remain. And that is the bottom line.”