Boris Johnson should face a vote of no confidence now so MPs can stop him shutting down parliament a second time, Labour MP Paul Williams has said.
The pro-EU backbencher said an “emergency government” was needed and, while Jeremy Corbyn should get “first dibs” at trying to win MPs’ backing, someone else should step in if he fails.
“This is a time of national crisis,” he told Sky News. “We need sensible, pragmatic leaders who hold the country together at this difficult time.”
It comes after the Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that Johnson’s highly controversial attempt to prorogue parliament for five weeks was unlawful, null and void.
The extraordinary verdict means parliament will be recalled on Wednesday morning, with Speaker John Bercow confirming MPs can table motions and emergency debates.
“This is about trust. He lied to the Queen,” Williams said of Johnson. “We need a leader that we can trust.”
He added: “If he was a doctor and he told lies like this, he would be hauled in front of the General Medical Council, and he would be struck off.
“He’s not fit to be prime minister.”
Corbyn has called on Johnson to resign, telling delegates chanting “Johnson out” at the Labour conference in Brighton just minutes after the verdict was recorded: “I invite Boris Johnson, in the historic words, to consider his position.”
Speaking after the judgement, Johnson said he “strongly disagrees” with the judges’ unanimous verdict. A Downing Street source told reporters on Tuesday that the prime minister would not resign following the verdict.
Tory Remainer Ken Clarke and Labour backbenchers Yvette Cooper and Harriet Harman are among the figures who have previously been suggested as potential leaders of a government of national unity.
“We need a sensible leader who we do trust,” said Williams, before adding that Corbyn should first try to form a government.
“I think there should be an emergency government,” he said.
He added: “I think Jeremy Corbyn as the leader of the opposition has the right to be the first person who tries to form a government, but actually I think possibly the numbers don’t add up to him forming a government, and it may well be that a parliamentary majority might support an alternative figure.
“But I think Corbyn absolutely has the right to have first dibs at this.”
He said MPs must act now, rather than wait, in case Johnson again tried to shut down parliament.
He said: “I think we should be doing this [tabling a confidence vote] immediately, and of course what we should be really careful about here is Boris Johnson is trying to prorogue parliament again.
“I think the Queen’s advisors are going to be very, very cautious here, but there is a risk that Johnson will go back with another reason, and that shouldn’t happen.”
A confidence vote should be called straightaway on Wednesday, Williams said, but MPs must avoid a general election which risked the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal on October 31.
“If we call a vote of no confidence, which I absolutely think we should do, then we have 14 days to form another government.
“What we mustn’t do is fall into the trap of having a general election.”