Jeremy Corbyn will not agree to hold Christmas general election until no-deal Brexit is ruled out Mr Corbyn is fearful that staging a December election could mean the UK leaves the EU without a deal by mistake on 31 January

Jeremy Corbyn has refused to agree to hold a general election until Boris Johnson entirely removes the prospect of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

The Labour leader insisted his party was ready to go to the polls, but he demanded a no-deal Brexit be taken off the table “to my satisfaction”.

Up to this point, Mr Corbyn has said he would back a poll once Brussels signed off a Brexit extension, thereby reducing the chances of a disorderly exit on 31 October. But he is now pressing for Downing Street to remove no deal from its withdrawal agreement in return for a general election.

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Speaking on This Morning, he said: “I’ve said all along – take no deal off the table, and we’ll have the election. No deal. Think what it does. Ford in Bridgend, gone. Nissan in Sunderland, ready to go if they lose their trade access. Airbus in north Wales. And so on all across the country.”

Labour will not back poll

Mr Corbyn is fearful that staging a December election could mean the UK leaves the EU without a deal by mistake on 31 January. A December poll would mean Parliament is unlikely to be back up and running until early January, dramatically increasing the chances of a Brexit cliff edge at the end of the month.

He is also concerned that Mr Johnson’s Withdrawal Agreement maintains the possibility of the UK leaving without a deal at the end of the transition period. Should London fail to thrash out a future trade agreement with Brussels, it will result in a no-deal Brexit on 31 December 2020.

Asked if he would support a poll if the EU decided to extend Britain’s membership until 31 January, Mr Corbyn said: “Providing the Prime Minister comes to Parliament on Monday and makes it absolutely clear he is going to make sure that there is no crash out – because his deal includes the possibility of a no-deal exit. He’s going to have to do that because that’s how Parliament works: we’ve got to hold him to account. I think a no-deal exit is very dangerous.”

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Diane Abbott, a key ally of the Labour leader, went further and suggested more legislation would be needed to ensure a no-deal departure was removed completely.

The Conservatives believe Labour is trying to avoid holding an election for fear it would lose. The Chancellor Sajid Javid said Labour was trying to have it “both ways”.