Corbyn, Johnson trade barbs on British election campaign trail

Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn embarked on their first full day of election campaigning on Thursday.

Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn launches the party's election campaign in south London. Picture: AFP

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Opposition Leader Jeremy Corbyn embarked on their first full day of election campaigning on Thursday, pitching starkly different ­visions for the country ahead of an unpredictable December poll.

On the day Britain had been scheduled to leave the EU, the Conservative Party’s Mr Johnson and Labour’s Mr Corbyn joined other political leaders in fanning out around the country ahead of a December 12 election.

Mr Johnson accused the 70-year-old socialist of threatening the country’s future with his plan to hold another referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU and possibly another on Scottish independence.

Mr Corbyn responded that the election offered a once-in-a-generation chance to get rid of the Conservatives and rebuild the country. “Real change is coming,” he said in Battersea, south London.

He promised to “rebuild” public services and hit out at “tax dodgers, dodgy landlords, bad bosses and big polluters”.

Britain will hold its first Christmas election since 1923 after Mr Johnson failed in his “do or die” promise to deliver Brexit by October 31.

With parliament in deadlock, he has gambled that an election is the only way to break the logjam so he can push through the last-minute Brexit deal he struck in October with the EU.

“Today should have been the day that Brexit was delivered and we finally left the EU,” Mr Johnson said in pre-prepared remarks provided by his office. “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.”

Mr Corbyn pitched his vision of a radical socialist future for the world’s fifth-largest economy, complete with sweeping nationalisation of rail, mail and water ser­vices. He used his first major speech of the campaign to tackle what he called “a corrupt system” and take on “the vested interests” of big business and media barons.

“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 said.

Flanked by members of ­Labour’s shadow cabinet, Mr Corbyn said: “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.”

Britain’s next election is likely to be one of the hardest to call in years after Brexit smashed the historic loyalties to the two largest parties.

The Conservatives lead Labour by an average of 10 percentage points in polls, indicating a majority in the 650-seat parliament for Mr Johnson, though pollsters admit the models are imperfect.

Reuters