Brexit news: Ken Clarke prepared to be caretaker PM as senior Tory rebels join Swinson in rejecting Corbyn
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Your support makes all the difference.Tory veteran Ken Clarke has said he is willing to be a prime minister to stop a no-deal Brexit after he was nominated by the Liberal Democrats.
"I wouldn't reject it, if it was the judgement of people that it was the only way forward,” he said.
It follows criticism over Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson’s rejection of Jeremy Corbyn’s plan to lead a caretaker government. The Labour leader said it was “not up to Jo Swinson” who becomes the next PM.
Senior Tory rebel Dominic Grieve, meanwhile, said he would “not facilitate” having Mr Corbyn at No 10 temporarily.
The Brexit Party has “trimmed down” Nigel Farage’s planned tour of Britain by cancelling an event in Scotland.
“Due to time constraints, the Dundee rally has unfortunately been cancelled,” a party spokesman told the Dundee Evening Telegraph.
“We are preparing for a general election and have trimmed down the Brexit Party tour.”
Jeremy Corbyn is visiting the Centre for Alternative Technology in the Welsh town of Machynlleth – where it’s raining quite heavily.
The Labour leader said: “Wales is central to our plans to kickstart a green industrial revolution to tackle the climate crisis and create over 400,000 green, sustainable jobs.”
Corbyn braves the rain as he visits the Centre For Alternative Technology (Getty)
According to the Oddschecker, three leading bookmakers have cut the odds of Jeremy Corbyn becoming the next prime minister.
Jessica O’Reilly of Ladbrokes said: “Money is coming in for Corbyn to take down Johnson’s government, leaving us with little option but to cut the odds accordingly.”
Jeremy Corbyn says he hopes Jo Swinson will “come round” to the Labour plan to stop a no-deal Brexit and bring out a general election.
“I’m the leader of the opposition, I’m the leader of the Labour party and under the normal constitutional processes in Britain when a government collapses, the leader of the main opposition party is called upon to form a government – and we are ready to do that,” he told the BBC.
“We are ready to serve,” Corbyn added.
Boris Johnson will meet Angela Merkel to discuss Brexit "in the very near future", according to the German chancellor's spokesperson.
It is not clear if this is a reference to the G7 summit in France in just over a week, between 24 and 26 August, but it follows reports that Ms Merkel will reject the prime minister's demand to remove the infamous backstop, which is designed to prevent a hard border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Meanwhile Simon Coveney, the deputy Irish prime minister, has written an article in the Irish Sun describing the backstop as "an important insurance policy".
"It fully protects the Good Friday Agreement and Ireland's place in the EU single market, the cornerstone of our economy, he said.
"The backstop threatens no one," he says, adding: "A no-deal Brexit will not be a decision brought about by Ireland or the EU."
Chancellor Sajid Javid has become the first senior member of the UK government to meet EU leaders to discuss Brexit since Boris Johnson became prime minister last month.
He travelled to Berlin to see German finance minister Olaf Scholz, a day after the leak of documents from the German finance ministry stating that a no-deal Brexit was thought to be "highly likely".
Mr Scholz said after the meeting that "the best and only way for an orderly withdrawal is the negotiated Brexit deal".
While Jeremy Corbyn and Jo Swinson remain at odds over the best way to prevent a no-deal Brexit, the Department for Exiting the EU is counting down the clock.
Former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable has urged Mr Corbyn to "do the right thing" and support a caretaker prime minister to stop a no-deal Brexit.
He said: "It would be up to the House of Commons to decide who a caretaker prime minister put in place to stop a no-deal Brexit would be.
"This is not about party leaders, but getting a group together to stop no-deal.
"It is clear Jeremy Corbyn cannot command that majority in the House. I urge him to do the right thing and confirm that if he cannot, he will support someone who can."
↵Boris Johnson is facing questions over a new government promotional video that opponents have described as a "blatant election campaign", reports Benjamin Kentish.
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