Jeremy Corbyn takes aim at 'corrupt system' and blasts billionaire 'elite' as race for Number 10 begins
3 min read
Jeremy Corbyn will vow to take on a "corrupt system" of wealth and privilege as he fires the starting pistol on Labour's general election campaign.
Launching the party's campaign in Battersea on Thursday, the Labour leader will say the 12 December poll marks a "once-in-a-generation chance" to change Britain and "take on the vested interests holding people back".
And he will single out a host of business chiefs and landowners as representatives of a "rigged system" that his party will take on if he becomes Prime Minister.
Arguing that Labour stands "for the many" while Boris Johnson represents "born-to-rule Conservatives", Mr Corbyn will pledge "real change" under his party's plans to renationalise utilities and "rebuild our public services".
“This election is a once-in-a-generation chance to transform our country, take on the vested interests holding people back and ensure that no community is left behind," he will say.
The Labour leader will add: "You know what really scares the elite?
“What they’re actually afraid of is paying their taxes. So in this election they’ll fight harder and dirtier than ever before. They’ll throw everything at us because they know we’re not afraid to take them on.
“So we’re going after the tax dodgers. We’re going after the dodgy landlords. We’re going after the bad bosses. We’re going after the big polluters. Because we know whose side we’re on."
Among the figures who will come in for criticism, Mr Corbyn will brand aristocrat the Duke of Westminster as a "dodgy landlord" and again take aim at Mike Ashley, the billionaire owner of Newcastle United - arguing that he has "exploited" his workforce as Sports Direct chief executive.
He will meanwhile tear into "big polluters" such as Ineos chemicals chairman Sir Jim Ratcliffe, and "greedy bankers like Crispin Odey", a hedge-fund manager and Conservative donor.
He will also renew his attacks on the media as he accuses Rupert Murdoch of presiding over an "empire" that "pumps out propaganda to support a rigged system".
The Labour leader will add: "You know whose side Labour’s on. And we have something that the Rupert Murdochs, the Mike Ashleys, and the Boris Johnsons don’t have.
“We have people. Hundreds of thousands of people in every part of our country, who will make this the biggest people-powered campaign in history.
“When Labour wins, the nurse wins, the pensioner wins, the student wins, the office worker wins, the engineer wins. We all win."
The speech comes as the battle for Number 10 gets properly underway, with Mr Johnson visiting a hospital in Cambridgeshire, a school in Suffolk and a police unit in London.
The Prime Minister will also take aim at Mr Corbyn over Brexit, blaming him for forcing the Government to abandon its pledge to leave the EU by Thursday.
Speaking ahead of the visits, he said: "Today should have been the day that Brexit was delivered and we finally left the EU. But, despite the great new deal I agreed with the EU, Jeremy Corbyn refused to allow that to happen – insisting upon more dither, more delay and more uncertainty for families and business.
"We cannot continue along this path. I didn’t want an election - like the country I wanted to get Brexit done, but it is the only way forward."
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