Labour veteran Harriet Harman says she is prepared to be caretaker PM in latest Remoaner plot to stop No Deal Brexit

VETERAN Labour MP Harriet Harman has told allies she is prepared to serve as caretaker Prime Minister to stop a No Deal Brexit.

The party’s former deputy leader was named today by Lib Dem boss Jo Swinson as one of two candidates who should lead a unity emergency government.

The 69 year-old ex-Cabinet minister made it clear to friends in response yesterday that she wants Jeremy Corbyn to try to topple Boris Johnson and then delay Brexit again to negotiate an EU deal.

But if the hard left Labour chief fails, she could step up.

Veteran Ken Clarke has told the BBC he’s ready to do as well, he admitted this evening.

“If it was the only way in which the plain majority in the House of Commons that is opposed to a No Deal exit could find a way forward, I actually said to Jo… that I wouldn’t object to it,” he told Radio 4’s PM.

The development came as Mr Corbyn’s bid to take over in No10 with cross-party support collapsed in tatters as other senior MPs ruled him out.

As tensions spiralled ahead of a titanic showdown when Parliament returns next month, also today:

• Rebel pro-EU Tory MPs agreed to open talks with Jeremy Corbyn on how to stop Boris from carrying out an EU exit without a deal.
• Another Tory rebel, Guto Bebb, gave a strong hint he would back a motion of no confidence against Mr Johnson.
• It emerged tonight that Sajid Javid will today become the first member of Boris’s government to hold Brexit talks with EU figures when he flies to Berlin.

The Chancellor will meet Germany’s finance minister Olaf Scholz.

GAMBIT TO STOP NO DEAL

Aides tonight said he will restate the Government’s position on Brexit, and emphasise “how serious we are about walking away” if the EU refuses to dump the Irish backstop.

Popular Ms Harman is known as Mother of the House because she is the longest-serving woman MP, having been first elected in 1982.

She told told friends: “The Leader of the Opposition should be the first to try to take over and form an interim government to extend Article 50.

“If Parliament does not back that, then it’s for whoever can command confidence of house.”

Ms Swinson attacked Mr Corbyn’s bid to seize power by saying he would fail as “there is no way he can unite rebel conservatives and independents”.

As at least seven MPs on the opposition benches have said they won’t put the Labour chief into No10, he would need at least eight Conservative MPs, a tough task, she argued.

As well as Ms Harman, the other candidate she named was veteran Tory Ken Clarke – the Father of the House – who refused to comment.

‘ABSOLUTELY EXTRAORDINARY’

Anti-Brexit former Tory ministers Dominic Grieve, Nick Boles, Oliver Letwin and Caroline Spelman responded to Mr Corbyn’s letter to them today to agree to his offer of talks.

But they also sent a strong signal that they would not back him for PM, saying they wanted to look at “different ways” no deal could be avoided.

In a worry for No10, Welsh Tory MP Mr Bebb vowed to do “anything that is necessary” to stop a no-deal Brexit, saying he had already “sacrificed his political career” to fight for a second referendum.

He was savaged by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, who dubbed it “absolutely extraordinary that any Conservative MP considered even for one minute installing Jeremy Corbyn in Downing Street”.

Mr Shapps added: “Any Conservative should think very, very hard about doing this. He would wreck the economy, destroy people’s jobs and livelihoods”.

Despite scorn from the Lib Dems, Mr Corbyn’s bid for No10 was boosted by SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, who said her 35 MPs could help install him as a temporary PM.

The Scotland boss said Jo Swinson  “should rethink”, adding: “Jeremy Corbyn’s suggestion is not the only possible option – but given the circumstances, nothing should be ruled out at this stage”.

But senior Tory Remainer Dame Caroline Spelman and the Independent Group for Change refused to support any Corbyn government as well.

Ms Swinson added: “It is not even certain that he would secure all the votes of Labour MPs”.

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