Jeremy Corbyn vows he 'won't play by the rules' if Labour wins power in General Election

Tom Powell20 April 2017
WEST END FINAL

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Jeremy Corbyn will vow he “won’t play by the rules” if Labour wins power in June's General Election.

The Labour leader will deny that victory for Theresa May on June 8 is a forgone conclusion as he makes his first keynote speech of the campaign in London today.

In a statement echoing Donald Trump's populist US election campaign, Mr Corbyn will declare that his party can overhaul a “rigged system” which favours rich individuals and businesses.

"Much of the media and establishment are saying this election is a foregone conclusion,” he is expected to say.

"They think there are rules in politics, which if you don't follow by doffing your cap to powerful people, accepting that things can't really change, then you can't win.

"They say I don't play by the rules - their rules. We can't win, they say, because we don't play their game.

"They're quite right I don't. And a Labour Government elected on June 8 won't play by their rules."

Mr Corbyn is resisting Theresa May's efforts to cast the election as a vote on Brexit, insisting that it gives voters a chance to pass judgement on the Conservatives' record on austerity and public spending cuts.

He will also denounce those benefiting from the current system as "wealth extractors" and say it is only to be expected that they will oppose him.

"Of course those people don't want us to win," he will say. "Because when we win, it's the people, not the powerful, who win.

"The nurse, the teacher, the small trader, the carer, the builder, the office worker win. We all win."

But he will insist: "Things can and they will change. And Labour in this election will be part of a movement of the British people to make that change."

Controversial business figures like Sir Philip Green, Mike Ashley, Southern Rail and the chief executives of tax-dodging multinationals should be worried about the prospect of a Labour victory, he will say.

"Labour is the party that will put the interests of the majority first," Mr Corbyn is expected to say.

"That's why we will prove the establishment experts wrong and change the direction of this election - because the British people know that they are the true wealth creators, held back by a system rigged for the wealth extractors."

US President Donald Trump repeatedly railed against the "establishment" and claimed he was an underdog during his campaign to win the White House last year.

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