Labour will not seek any coalition with other parties and will attempt to form a minority government if it comes out of the general election as the largest party in a hung Parliament, Emily Thornberry has said.
The admission from the Shadow Foreign Secretary - just one week before the election - comes after a polling company's model suggested Britain could be heading into hung Parliament territory, with the Conservatives losing their majority and Jeremy Corbyn's party gaining seats.
Her comments amount to a firm rejection of Prime Minister's repeated claim that a vote for Mr Corbyn's party in next week's election would result in a “coalition of chaos” with Labour propped up by MPs from parties like the Liberal Democrats, Scottish National Party or Greens.
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In an address to the party faithful in Basildon – as the Labour leader outlined his plans for Brexit - Ms Thornberry said: We're fighting to win and we're fighting to win with a majority and that's what we're fighting to do. If we end up In a position we're In a minority, we will go ahead and we will put forward a queens speech and a budget“
“And if people want to vote for it then good, and if they don't want to vote for it they're going to have to go back and speak to their constituents and explain to them why it is that we have a Tory government instead
“If we are the largest party, we go ahead - no deals - with our manifesto and our budget and our queens speech. And that's the conversation we've had, isn't it? That's it. “
Mr Corbyn said: “We are fighting to win this election”.
When asked if there would be a future deal after polling day, he added: “we're not doing deals, we're not doing coalitions, we're not doing any agreements. We are fighting to win this election on a manifesto I'm very proud of.
It comes after the Labour leader told The Independent only “winning the election” will be a good result for his party next week, as polls showed his party closing the gap on Ms May’s stuttering campaign.
UK General Election 2017
UK General Election 2017
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1/47 12 June 2017
British Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street for the 1922 committee on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today
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2/47 12 June 2017
DUP leader Arlene Foster stands alongside deputy leader Nigel Dodds as they hold a press conference at Stormont Castle as the Stormont assembly power sharing negotiations reconvene following the general election on June 12, 2017 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Discussions between the DUP and the Conservative party are also continuing in the wake of the UK general election as Prime Minister Theresa May looks to form a government with the help of the Democratic Unionist parties ten Westminster seats. Stormont and the political situation in Northern Ireland has been in limbo following the collapse of the power sharing executive due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme scandal which implicated the DUP
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3/47 12 June 2017
Priti Patel, International Development Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street
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4/47 12 June 2017
Larry the Downing Street cat runs ahead of Michael Fallon Britain's Secretary of State for Defence as he arrives for a cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, Britain, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth
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5/47 12 June 2017
Michael Gove, Environment Secretary leaves 10 Downing Street on June 12, 2017 in London, England. British Prime Minister Theresa May held her first cabinet meeting with her re-shuffled team today
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6/47 12 June 2017
Scottish National Party Leader Nicola Sturgeon (C) leaves after speaking to the media in Parliament Square.
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7/47 12 June 2017
British Prime Minister Theresa May (C, L) holds the first Cabinet meeting of her new team.
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8/47 11 June 2017
British Prime Minister Theresa May attends church in her constituency with her husband Philip May, a few days after disappointing results in a general election.
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9/47 9 June 2017
Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn leaves Labour Party HQ this morning, following a general election yesterday. Parliament is hung, with no individual party gaining an overall majority. Post general election reaction.
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10/47 9 June 2017
BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND - JUNE 09: DUP leader and Northern Ireland former First Minister Arlene Foster (C) holds a brief press conference with the DUP's newly elected Westminster candidates who stood in the general election
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11/47 9 June 2017
A " Get May Out" demo took place opposite the gates of Downing Street, calling for May to resign, after the shock election results and Mays coalition with the DUP.
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12/47 9 June 2017
A demonstrator wears a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May, poses with a mock gravestone bearing the words "Hard Brexit, RIP", during a protest photocall near the entrance 10 Downing Street in central London
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13/47 9 June 2017
Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters in London
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14/47 9 June 2017
Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May flanked by her husband Philip delivers a statement outside 10 Downing Street in central Londo
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15/47 9 June 2017
Britain's Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party Theresa May leaves Buckingham Palace in London the day after a general election in which the Conservatives lost their majority
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16/47 9 June 2017
A TV cameraman watches the door of 10 Downing Street in London
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17/47 9 June 2017
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is greeted by his Office Director Karie Murphy as he arrives at Labour Party HQ in Westminster, London, after he called on the Prime Minister to resign, saying she should 'go and make way for a government that is truly representative of this country'
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18/47 9 June 2017
Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives at the Conservative Party's headquarters with her husband Philip in London
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19/47 9 June 2017
Ukip leader Paul Nuttall speaks during a press conference at Boston West Golf Club where he announced that he is standing down as party leader
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20/47 9 June 2017
Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, leaves the counting centre for Britain's general election with her partner Jen Wilson in Edinburgh, Scotland
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21/47 9 June 2017
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale celebrates with candidate for Edinburgh South Ian Murray as he retains his seat at the Meadowbank Sports Centre counting centre in Edinburgh, Scotland
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22/47 9 June 2017
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the media at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, as counting is under way for the General Election
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23/47 9 June 2017
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson at Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh, as counting is under way for the General Election
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24/47 9 June 2017
Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon reacts at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland
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25/47 9 June 2017
Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party, arrives at the Labour Party's Headquarters in London
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26/47 9 June 2017
UKIP Leader Paul Nuttall leaves in a car following the vote count for the constituency of Boston and Skegness in Boston, England
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27/47 9 June 2017
British Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Theresa May speaks at the declaration at the election count at the Magnet Leisure Centre in Maidenhead, England.
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28/47 8 June 2017
A policer officer enters a polling station in London
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29/47 8 June 2017
A woman leaves after casting her vote at the Hove Museum and Art Gallery near Brighton, in southern England
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30/47 8 June 2017
A polling station sign is seen on a telephone box outside the polling station at Rotherwick Hall, west of London
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31/47 7 June 2017
A woman walks past a general election display in the window of a betting shop in Camden on June 7, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow,
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32/47 7 June 2017
Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May visits Atherley Bowling Club during an election campaign visit on June 7, 2017 in Southampton, England. Britain goes to the polls tomorrow June 8 to vote in a general election.
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33/47 6 June 2017
A supporter wears a pair of Jeremy Corbyn decorated tights at a general election campaign event in Birmingham, central England, on June 6, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another deadly terror attack in the nation's captial.
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34/47 6 June 2017
A picture taken in London, shows election leaflets from various parties displayed ahead of the United Kingdom's general elections. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital
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35/47 6 June 2017
Election workers, George Gaunt and Luca Tragid deliver the first ballot boxes, on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh
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36/47 6 June 2017
British Prime Minister Theresa May meets with Conservative party supporters during an election campaign visit to a bakery during an election campaign visit on June 6, 2017 in Fleetwood, north-west England. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to vote in a general election only days after another terrorist attack on the nation's capital
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37/47 5 June 2017
British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a general election campaign visit to a removals depot in Edinburgh
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38/47 3 June 2017
Pro-Independence supporters hold a march through Glasgow
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39/47 3 June 2017
Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn campaigns for the upcoming general election in Beeston, Nottinghamshire
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40/47 3 June 2017
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reacts to supporters after a rally at Beeston Youth and Community Centre as he visits the East Midlands during the final weekend of the General Election campaign on June 3, 2017 in Nottingham, England. If elected in next week's general election Mr Corbyn is pledging to create a million new jobs and to scrap zero-hours contracts
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41/47 1 June 2017
Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party leader Ruth Davidson joins a selection of Scottish Conservative election candidates and activists during campaigning on May 1, 2017 in South Queensferry, Scotland. With only seven days to go until the general election on June 8th, polls are showing the SNP out in front and the Conservatives set to close in on Labour.
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42/47 29 May 2017
Prime Minister Theresa May canvasses in Richmond with Conservative candidate Zac Goldsmith on May 29, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. After suffering defeat in the London Mayoral election Zac Goldsmith resigned over the Government's position on Heathrow expansion. He stood as an Independent but lost in a by-election to the Liberal Democrats. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election
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43/47 22 May 2017
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron poses for a selfie taken by carer April Preston during a General Election campaign visit to the Barlow Medical Centre, in Didsbury, Manchester
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44/47 22 May 2017
Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at an election campaign event in Wrexham, Wales
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45/47 22 May 2017
Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, and Labour's former deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, exit the party's general election campaign 'battle' bus as they arrive at an event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England
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46/47 22 May 2017
Britain's main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn walks with supporters between venues, before speaking again at another general election campaign event in Kingston upon Hull, northern England
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47/47 22 May 2017
An anti-fox hunting protester is taken away and arrested by police outside the venue where Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May was due to launch the Welsh Conservative general election manifesto at Gresford Memorial Hall in the village of Gresford, near Wrexham, North Wales, on May 22, 2017. Britain goes to the polls on June 8 to elect a new parliament in a general election
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In the last fortnight Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey said if Labour wins as few as 200 seats – a loss of 29 – it would be a “successful campaign”, while allies have suggested the party is heading in the right direction if Mr Corbyn matches or increases the 30.4 per cent vote share won by Ed Miliband in 2015.
But asked what would mark a “good result” next week, Mr Corbyn replied unequivocally: “Winning the election”.
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