THE SNP have vowed to stop a no-deal Brexit by moving to rule it out as the default option immediately after Westminster returns from recess.

The party’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford has written to all opposition party leaders calling for an urgent cross-party summit to combine efforts to stop the UK crashing out of the EU.

He appealed to his counterparts to use the summer to join together against a no-deal Brexit saying: “We cannot allow this Government to drive us off the cliff edge”.

The move comes as the UK Government ramps up preparations for a no-deal Brexit – despite Boris Johnson claiming reaching a deal with the EU is his preference.

Blackford told the Sunday National he is exploring moves to strike out crashing out as the default option, which could amongst other things, involve a potential further extension to the Article 50 process.

He said: “There is an obligation on all of us – and in particularly the majority in the House of Commons that are opposed to no deal – working with others, we must remove no-deal as a default option.

“I signal that the SNP MPs, when we return to Parliament, will be seeking to force down Boris Johnson and to stop him taking Scotland and the rest of the UK out of the EU on a no deal basis.

“We will not allow jobs and prosperity to be affected by a no-deal Brexit.

“Boris Johnson and the Conservative Government must listen to all the voices, not least the voices of the Bank of England this week, that paint a horrific picture of the self-inflicted harm that a no-deal Brexit would do.

“It would put 100,000 Scots onto the dole – unemployment is never a price worth paying. We will stop Boris Johnson doing this.”

The letter from Blackford has been sent to Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn, Plaid Cymru’s Liz Saville Roberts, the Liberal Democrat’s Jo Swinson, Caroline Lucas from the Greens, and Anna Soubry from the Independent Group for Change. It states: “It is becoming increasingly clear that the possibility of a no-deal Brexit has increased with the new Prime Minister failing to rule it out with just three months to go before the revised Brexit date.

“We know that any Brexit, particularly a no-deal Brexit, will cause unmitigated damage to our economy and to living standards right across these islands.”

It added: “While the Prime Minister and the Tories fail to act to avert this catastrophe no-deal exit, it’s up to us to step up and stop this chaos.

“The very fact that this government is spending £6 billion for a no-deal Brexit is simply shameful while at the same time people are turning to food banks and our public services are struggling with the pain of Tory imposed austerity. It cannot go on.

“I ask that we use the summer, collectively to coalesce against a no-deal Brexit. Time is short and we must act to prevent the Prime Minister destroying the futures of citizens up and down the country.”

Scottish Government ministers agreed to step up preparations at a Cabinet meeting on Friday, saying Boris Johnson’s apparent refusal to negotiate with the EU has made a no-deal Brexit more likely.

It came after Chancellor Sajid Javid announced on Wednesday that an extra £2.1 billion had been set aside for measures such as including stockpiling of medicines, extra border officials and a public information campaign. It takes the total allocation of funding for Brexit up to £6.3 billion this year alone.

A day later a leaked document, prepared for Government ministers, suggested a no-deal Brexit could trigger “consumer panic”, food shortages and an increased security threat within a fortnight.

Last week, The Bank of England also warned Britain is on the verge of recession with heightened uncertainty over Brexit dragging down the economy.

Governor Mark Carney also said the UK crashing out of the EU would result in an “instantaneous shock” to the economy which would see the pound fall further, with inflation rising and a slowdown in GDP growth.

On Friday night at an Edinburgh Fringe event, Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson said it was still “eminently possible” to stop Brexit.

She said her party – which backs a People’s Vote – was “exploring different strategies” with the aim of doing so.

She told interviewer Iain Dale that taking control of the order paper – which happened in March when MPs backed the move in order to allow a series of votes on alternatives to Theresa May’s Brexit deal – could be done again.

She said: “What happened in March was that a motion was used to take control of the order paper, so that it was not only the Prime Minister or the leader of the House on a given day that was able to initiate what the business would be.

“So there are ways around it.”