Labour leader will tell TUC cost of ‘reckless’ EU exit will be borne by ordinary Britons

The cost of a “reckless” no-deal Brexit will not be borne by Boris Johnson and his “wealthy friends” but a majority of working people, Jeremy Corbyn will claim on Tuesday.

In a renewed attack on the prime minister, the Labour leader will tell the TUC conference in Brighton that crashing out of the EU will give the Conservatives and their deep-pocketed supporters an opportunity to sell off public services and undermine workers’ rights.

Corbyn is also expected to confirm Labour will trigger a general election once the risk of a no-deal Brexit has been removed.

He will tell the conference: “Johnson’s reckless no deal would destroy jobs, push up food prices in the shops and cause shortages of everyday medicines that people rely on.

“And who bears the cost of that? It wouldn’t be Johnson and his wealthy friends. It’s not their livelihoods on the line. It would be the rest of us.

“Just as it wasn’t the bankers Boris Johnson still defends who paid the price for the financial crash of 2008, it was tens of millions of people who had nothing to do with it.”

Corbyn will claim the Tories want to use a no-deal “crash” to “push through policies that benefit them and their super-rich supporters and hurt everyone else – just as they did after the financial crash”.

He will add: “Under the cover of no deal they will sell off our public services, strip away the regulations that keep us safe and undermine workers’ rights.”

Corbyn is also expected to say a no-deal Brexit would be a “Trump-deal Brexit” that would lead to a “one-sided US trade deal negotiated from a position of weakness”.

He will add: “It will put us at the mercy of Trump and the big US corporations itching to get their teeth further into our NHS, sound the death knell for our steel industry, and permanently drive down rights and protections for workers.”

Outlining Labour’s strategy over the next few weeks, Corbyn will say the priority is to first prevent a no-deal Brexit and then trigger a general election. He will claim the government is making no real attempt to achieve a deal with the EU.

“Amber Rudd’s resignation confirmed that the government is not serious about trying to get a deal in Brussels,” Corbyn will say. “As the prime minister’s top adviser reportedly said, the negotiations are ‘a sham’. No-one can trust the word of a prime minister who is threatening to break the law to force through no-deal.”

He will also pledge to run a “people-powered” election campaign. “A general election is coming. But we won’t allow Johnson to dictate the terms. And I can tell you this: we’re ready for that election. We’re ready to unleash the biggest people-powered campaign we’ve ever seen,” Corbyn will say.