General election 2019: Jeremy Corbyn pledges to go after ‘greedy bankers’ as Labour launches campaign
Jeremy Corbyn has pledged to go after “the greedy bankers” and “bad bosses” as he kicks off his election campaign in South London this morning.
The Labour leader spoke before a packed hall of supporters at the Battersea Arts Centre, near Clapham.
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Repeatedly asking “whose side are you on?” – to which the response was invariably “yours”, Corbyn named Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley as one of the “bad bosses… the billionaire who won’t pay his staff properly and is running Newcastle United into the ground”.
He also attacked hedge fund manager Crispin Odey as one of the “greedy bankers… who makes millions betting against our country, and has donated huge sums to Johnson and the Conservative Party”.
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Corbyn went on to slam “the billionaire media barons like Rupert Murdoch, whose empire pumps out propaganda to support a rigged system”.
Shortly afterwards, supporters criticised journalists for asking “negative” questions, one of which the Labour leader responded to by calling for journalists to “just report what we say”.
Corbyn ducked many questions, including whether he would step down if Labour loses, how he would vote in a second referendum – which is currently Labour’s policy – and whether the current shadow cabinet would take corresponding roles in government.
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He also dodged a question about whether he would serve a full five year term as Prime Minister if Labour won this election. He would be 75 years old at the end of his term if so.
Main image: Getty