Corbyn: We face the hostility of the billionaires because we’re on the people’s side - that’s real change

Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party, will launch Labour’s General Election manifesto in Birmingham tomorrow as the “most radical and ambitious plan to transform our country in decades”, declaring “it’s time for real change.”

Corbyn will address head-on the scepticism about politicians’ promises and the ferocious attacks against against Labour and its plans to transform Britain.

He will say that people can judge whether to trust Labour to deliver its fully-costed manifesto, which is “full of popular policies that the political establishment has blocked for a generation”, based on the “furious reaction” of the rich and the powerful.

Corbyn will say that he accepts “the hostility of the rich and powerful is inevitable” because Labour is “on your side”, on the side of the many, not the few. “They know we will deliver our plans, which is why they want to stop us being elected.”

The Labour Leader will lay out his party’s radical and fully-costed plan for real change and declare that voters “really can have this plan for real change because your vote can be more powerful than all their wealth.”

Launching Labour’s manifesto, 'It’s Time For Real Change', Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn, will say:

“This is a manifesto of hope. A manifesto that will bring real change. A manifesto full of popular policies that the political establishment has blocked for a generation. Those policies are fully costed, with no tax increases for 95% of taxpayers.

“Over the next three weeks, the most powerful people in Britain and their supporters are going to tell you that everything in this manifesto is impossible. That it’s too much for you. Because they don’t want real change. Why would they? The system is working just fine for them. It’s rigged in their favour.

“But it’s not working for you. If your wages never seem to go up and your bills never seem to go down, if your public services only seem to get worse, despite the heroic efforts of those who work in them, then it’s not working for you.

“And that’s why so many people in Britain have given up on politics. That’s why you hear people say about politicians: “They’re all the same.”

“Well not any more. Because this party, this movement, this manifesto is different. Labour is on your side. And there could scarcely be a clearer demonstration of that than the furious reaction of the rich and powerful.

"If the bankers, billionaires and the establishment thought we represented politics as usual, that we could be bought off, that nothing was really going to change, they wouldn’t attack us so ferociously. Why bother?"

“But they know we mean what we say. They know we will deliver our plans, which is why they want to stop us being elected.

"They know we will go after the tax dodgers, the bad bosses and the big polluters so that everybody in our country gets a fair chance in life. That’s why they throw everything they’ve got at us. Because they’re scared of real change. Because they aren’t on your side.

"A third of Britain’s billionaires have donated to the Conservative Party. The billionaires and the super rich, the tax dodgers, the bad bosses and the big polluters - they own the Conservative Party.

“But they don’t own us. They don’t own the Labour Party. The people own the Labour Party. That’s why the billionaires attack us. That’s why the billionaire-owned media makes things up about us.

“The US president who led his country out of the Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt, had to take on the rich and powerful in America to do it. That’s why he said: “They are unanimous in their hate for me, and I welcome their hatred.”

“He knew that when you’re serious about real change, those who profit from a rigged system, who squirrel away the wealth created by millions of people, won’t give up without a fight.

“So I accept the implacable opposition and hostility of the rich and powerful is inevitable.

"I accept the opposition of the billionaires because we will make those at the top pay their fair share of tax to help fund world class public services for you. That’s real change.

“I accept the hostility of the bad bosses paying poverty pay because we will give Britain a pay rise, starting with a real living wage of at least £10 an hour, including for young workers. That’s real change.

“I accept the implacable opposition of the dodgy landlords because we’ll build build a million homes, empower tenants and control rents. That’s real change.

“I accept the hostility of the big polluters because we will make sure they pay their fair share of the costs of their destruction, create huge numbers of climate jobs and build the healthy, green economy of the future. That’s real change.

“I accept the fierce opposition of the giant healthcare corporations because we will stop them sucking out profits from our NHS. That’s real change.

“I accept the hostility of the privatised utilities companies because we will stop their great rip off by bringing rail, mail, water and energy into public ownership and running them for the people. That’s real change.

“And here’s a brand new one: I accept the implacable opposition of the private Internet providers because we’re going to give you the very fastest full fibre broadband for free. That’s real change.

“You can trust us to do all this because we’re opposed by the vested interests for standing up for a different kind of society. We’ll deliver real change for the many, and not the few. That’s what this manifesto is all about.

“And you really can have this plan for real change because you don’t need money to buy it. You just need a vote - and your vote can be more powerful than all their wealth.”