UK opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn has told Prime Minister Theresa May to step aside and make way for the Labour party to lead Britain's Brexit talks, saying his leftist ideas were now the "political mainstream".
After taking the stage at his party's annual conference to a standing ovation and chants of "Oh, Jeremy Corbyn", the leftist leader, once written off by some lawmakers for driving the party into unelectable territory, said Labour was ready for power.
Mr Corbyn is keen to press home his advantage over Ms May, who is struggling to unite her party over Britain's negotiations to leave the European Union and to keep her own position.
She faces a threat from some in the Conservatives who cannot forgive her for the loss of their parliamentary majority in a June election she called.
"Against all predictions, in June we won the largest increase in the Labour vote since 1945 and achieved Labour's best vote for a generation. It's a result which has put the Tories on notice and Labour on the threshold of power," Mr Corbyn said.
"And our message to the country could not be clearer: Labour is ready."
The Conservatives have said they have no plans to call a vote anytime before 2022.
Mr Corbyn has tapped into discontent in Britain, a wider trend seen across Western Europe where the dominance of traditional parties and their beliefs have been increasingly challenged.
With his aides working on the belief that Ms May will be forced into an early election before Britain leaves the EU in March 2019, the party has started to develop their policies, ready to introduce them swiftly.
Turning the tables on May who before the June election said Mr Corbyn would lead a "coalition of chaos" if voted in, Mr Corbyn now said her cabinet of top ministers were the ones who had failed so far to negotiate with the EU as one.
"This rag-tag cabinet spends more time negotiating with each other than they do with the EU. A cliff-edge Brexit is at risk of becoming a reality," he said.
"That is why Labour has made clear that Britain should stay within the basic terms of the single market and a customs union for a limited transition period."
Reuters
