EXCLUSIVE CORBYN I will finish off May
EXCLUSIVE: JEREMY CORBYN VOWS TO OUST THERESA MAY
FIRED-UP Jeremy Corbyn today vows to finish what he started by getting rid of Theresa May within a matter of days.
He plans to use the Queen’s Speech tomorrow week as his first opportunity to topple the floundering PM.
In an exclusive interview with the Sunday Mirror, Mr Corbyn is champing at the bit and buzzing with enthusiasm.
And over a cappuccino he says it is time for Mrs May to wake up and smell the coffee.
The Labour leader says: “I can still be Prime Minister. This is still on. Absolutely. Theresa May has been to the Palace. She’s attempting to form a government.
“She’s then got to present a programme to Parliament.
“We will – obviously – amend the Queen’s Speech. There’s a possibility of voting it down and we’re going to push that all the way.
“We have got a mandate to deal with issues of poverty, justice and inequality in Britain. We want to end austerity and invest in this country and that’s what we’re going to do.
“Nearly 13 million people voted for us to do it. That’s why I’m here.”
The election result saw Mrs May scramble to form a minority government to have any kind of Commons majority.
And she enlisted the help of the hardright DUP to get her over the line.
But Mr Corbyn believes there is enough opposition in the rest of the House – and on Mrs May’s own backbenches – to defeat the Government.
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That could trigger another election as the Tories would face a confidence challenge.
And the Labour leader is optimistic his progressive manifesto will attract enough support in Parliament to propel him to power.
Mr Corbyn adds: “It’s very unclear on the programme they’ll be able to put forward. But we’ll put up our demands and our message and we’ll assert those.
“I don’t think Theresa May and this government have any credibility.
“The Prime Minister called this election on the basis she would need a stronger mandate to negotiate Brexit. “Well look what’s happened. “The parallels are with 1974 when the Conservatives sought – as they have done this time – a ‘who governs Britain?’ mandate.
“Ted Heath lost and tried to form another government and tried to get another majority in Parliament.
“And eventually Harold Wilson managed to form a government. She’s taking us back to those times. It’s back to the seventies with Theresa May.”
Mr Corbyn believes the return of former Labour rebels – who have expressed support following his buoyant campaign – is one of the keys to success.
And he is confident he can attract bighitters who deserted the front bench back into the fold.
He goes on: “Everything’s still to play for. We can still do this.
“My phone is full of texts from lots and lots of people from right across the party. I’m very happy about that. I’m very proud to lead this party.
“And I’m open to everyone. It’s important to make that clear. I never get involved in personal abuse or anything like that. “If people have political disagreements that’s fine. We can discuss those. I’ll be appointing a Shadow Cabinet over the next couple of days and announcing it next week.”
Labour’s performance during the election campaign stunned many political insiders. And despite not securing enough seats for a win, Mr Corbyn says the party is ideally placed for the next election – whenever that might be.
And the statistics give him every reason to be bold. He says: “We’ve got the biggest increase in the Labour vote between elections since the Second World War – we put on more than three million votes.
“We got 40 per cent of the share. That was the highest any opinion poll put us on. That was people coming back to Labour who had gone away a long time ago. And, of course, young people coming together to support us.
“A lot of young people told me they were voting Labour but their family weren’t – so they were working on them.
“There must have been some very complicated discussions around the kitchen table in home after home with young, enthusiastic people saying ‘this is why we’ve got to do it’.”
Mr Corbyn’s campaign saw him cover
thousands of miles up, down and across the country. He attended an astonishing 90 rallies in 60 different towns and cities and his enthusiasm never waned.
Mr Corbyn goes on: “The number of people who have been involved has been amazing.
“The enthusiasm was infectious and, of course, it infected me as well. It was great. The fundamental message I was putting forward is that we’re strong as a community.
“We didn’t have separate messages – one for the old, one for the young, one for the disabled.
“We had a message of hope. And that was for everyone. And that ideal is a basic human condition. I’ve worked as hard as I can over the last seven weeks. I know we can do this.”
Mr Corbyn returns to the subject of young people and their crucial role in securing a better Britain. He explains: “We’ve got to invest in the youth and the future of our nation.
“Austerity has dealt a bitter blow to their aspirations and that’s just wrong.
“For too long now the rich have got ever richer whilst those struggling have had no hope of improving their lot. That’s just wrong as well. We cannot continue along this path. There is a new movement in Britain demanding social change and the millions who voted for the Labour Party cannot and should not be denied.
“The Tories may be in government for now, but their model and lack of ambition is unsustainable.
“I’m ready for another General Election. This is just the first step.
“I truly believe we can unite this nation and bring the kind of change the nation needs and demands.
“I feel energised by this result because I know we can build on it.”