London (AFP)

Britain's opposition parties said on Tuesday that they will urgently block a Brexit without a deal on Oct. 31, while Nigel Farage's Brexit Party has threatened Prime Minister Boris Johnson with electoral torpedoing if he does not break up abruptly. with the EU.

Leaders of opposition parties had a "productive" meeting to block a Brexit without a deal that would be "disastrous", according to a joint statement issued after the meeting.

"The participants agreed on the urgency of acting together to find practical ways to avoid a lack of agreement, including the possibility of voting a law and the mistrust" against the government, added Labor, the Party Scottish Nationals (SNP), the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru (Wales), the Greens and the Independent Group for Change.

This announcement pushed up the pound sterling. Around 15H00 GMT (17H00 in Paris), it increased about 0.50% to 90.44 pence for one euro and 1.2277 dollar for a pound.

Boris Johnson has only a majority of one vote in Parliament and he has not ruled out the possibility of suspending the assembly to prevent MPs from blocking a "no deal".

To mark their opposition to such a suspension, MPs held another meeting Tuesday in Parliament.

"Any attempt to prevent Parliament from sitting, to impose a Brexit without agreement, will face a strong and general democratic resistance," warned MPs in a joint statement. Among these MPs - 160 in number, according to Labor Stephen Doughty - are opposition heavyweights like Labor John McDonnell and Liberal Democratic Party leader Jo Swinson.

"Suspending Parliament at such a crucial time for our country would be an offense to democracy and a historic constitutional crisis," they insisted.

- "Only acceptable agreement" -

Boris Johnson is desperate to leave the EU, with or without a divorce agreement, a position that deeply divides the United Kingdom into its conservative camp, some of whom want to maintain close ties with the European club. Abrupt cuts cause fears of food, fuel and medicine shortages, as well as the reinstatement of tariffs.

London and the EU oppose the fate of the future Irish border, which will separate the United Kingdom from the European single market, while being ready to discuss it.

Johnson was scheduled to speak on Tuesday with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and sent his advisor David Frost to Brussels for talks on Wednesday, according to a spokeswoman for EU executive Mina Andreeva.

For its part, the Brexit Party, led by europhobic MEP Nigel Farage, put itself in order of battle by presenting Tuesday its candidates for possible early parliamentary elections, a scenario increasingly evoked.

"The + no deal + is the best deal, the only acceptable deal," said Farage, a key figure in the Brexit referendum campaign in 2016, applauded by more than 500 potential candidates in London. He pointed out that he himself would present himself too.

His party, which topped the European elections in May, promised to play all the seats held by the Tories if Boris Johnson made a compromise with Brussels.

- The "yoke of Trump" -

In contrast, Labor, the main opposition group, will do "all that is necessary" to prevent a "no deal", had warned Jeremy Corbyn before the meeting in the newspaper The Independent.

He also warned of the risk of a "no deal" favorable to US President Donald Trump who, ardent defender of an uncompromising Brexit, promised Johnson "a very large trade deal, quickly" after the withdrawal. An exit from the EU without agreement "will not give us back our sovereignty, it will put us under the yoke of Trump and big American companies," worried Jeremy Corbyn.

According to him, early elections would be the best way to thwart a Brexit without a parachute. Labor would then campaign for a new referendum on EU membership.

The British voted in 52% in favor of a divorce with the EU in 2016, but its date has already been postponed twice for lack of approval in the British Parliament of the conditions for its implementation.

© 2019 AFP