The Brexit blockers: Bitter losers from all parties gang up to plot to stop Britain's exit from the EU - which was voted for by 17 million people

British and European politicians are plotting to block the UK’s exit from the EU.

On a chaotic day in which the Labour Party went into meltdown, a campaign was started to force a second referendum.

Tony Blair, Nicola Sturgeon, some pro-Remain MPs and a senior German official said a rethink was needed now the consequences of quitting the Brussels club were clear.

Twenty one Labour frontbenchers have now resigned in a bid to replace Jeremy Corbyn with a pro-EU party leader.

The plotters hope a general election can be held later this year before the start of the formal process of quitting. Last Thursday’s referendum could then be reversed. 

In further developments:

• Theresa May prepared to take on Boris Johnson for the right to win the race to succeed David Cameron as prime minister within the new few months; 
• Mr Corbyn, who sacked Hilary Benn for disloyalty, claimed he was going nowhere, despite failing to even secure the backing of his own deputy, Tom Watson; 
• George Osborne announced he will give a statement today to ‘provide reassurance about financial and economic stability’;
• The Chancellor, who had not been seen since the referendum result, is to stay in post to ‘protect the national interest’;
• In a surprise move, talks have also begun for him to join a Boris Johnson leadership ‘dream ticket’ alongside Michael Gove;
• A petition calling for a second referendum was placed under investigation after 77,000 signatures were found to be fraudulent.

Meanwhile, top figures in Brussels have questioned whether Britain will ever quit the union, with a senior diplomat saying the divorce process will probably be delayed and then ditched. 

Iain Duncan Smith said the Europhiles were ‘bad losers’ yesterday.

Mr Duncan Smith said the bid by the political elite to frustrate the will of the people was an ‘anti-democratic joke’.

‘There is a lot of bad losing here from the Europhiles,’ the former Tory leader told the Mail. ‘This was one of the biggest turnouts since the war and there is no justification for a second referendum whatsoever.’ 

But Philip Hammond, who campaigned for Remain, insisted yesterday that Britain would have to sign up again to the European single market or face catastrophic consequences.