CORBYN: IT’S THATCHERISM ON STEROIDS

Opposition leader says PM Johnson will move UK into American model

OPPOSITION Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn yesterday said Prime Minister Boris Johnson was seeking to hijack Brexit to “unleash Thatcherism on steroids” by slashing regulations and moving the United Kingdom towards an American economic model.

“What Boris Johnson’s Conservatives want is to hijack Brexit to unleash Thatcherism on steroids,” Corbyn said.

“A vote for Johnson’s Conservatives is a vote to betray our NHS in a sell out to Trump. They want a race to the bottom in standards and protections. They want to move us towards a more deregulated American model of how to run the economy,"

The Conservatives will “unleash Thatcherism on steroids”, Corbyn said in a campaign speech ahead of the Dec 12 election, referring to former prime minister Margaret Thatcher who oversaw the privatisation of many state-owned industries.

Corbyn, whose party is trailing the Conservatives in opinion polls, said Johnson’s government would include the National Health Service (NHS) in any postBrexit trade deal with the United States.

“This threat to our NHS isn’t a mistake. It’s not happening by accident. The threat is there because Boris Johnson’s Conservatives want to hijack Brexit to sell out the NHS and sell out working people by stripping away their rights,” he said here, north of London.

“They want a race to the bottom in standards and protections. They want to move us towards a deregulated American model of how to run the economy.”

Johnson has repeatedly said the NHS, which voters cite as the second most important issue after Brexit, would not be on the table in any trade talks.

Last week, US President Donald Trump denied Labour’s claims that the NHS would be up for grabs, telling LBC radio: “It’s not for us to have anything to do with your healthcare system.”

Britain is heading for its first winter election since 1923 in a bid to break the deadlock over its exit from the European Union, more than three years after the 2016 referendum vote to leave the bloc.

REUTERS PIC Britain’s opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn (left) reacting as he leaves after speaking about Brexit during a general election campaign meeting in Harlow yesterday.