He also accused the government of starving schools of money, while reducing taxes for the rich.
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Turning to Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale, she added: “Jeremy Corbyn is unelectable and will leave Labour carping from the sidelines – how do we know that?”
On Tuesday Prime Minister Theresa May had called for a snap General Election on 8 June, which was approved by MPs on Wednesday.
Jeremy Corbyn has claimed that children are being “crammed in classrooms like sardines” and pledged to keep class sizes down if he wins the general election, in the latest of a series of high-profile interventions on education issues.
She said Brexit was one of the leading issues for voters in the town, which had a Lib Dem member of parliament for almost two decades until Maria Caulfield, a former nurse, narrowly won the seat for the Conservatives in 2015.
“People across Scotland have to be clear: there is no safe tactical Tory vote at this election”.
The Prime Minister easily cleared the hurdle needed under the Fixed Term Parliament Act to bring the poll forward from the scheduled date of 2020.
“Seven years of Tory failure and broken promises have left our schools in a bad state”, claims the Labour leader. “They will lose dozens and dozens”, he said. Of course, some might laugh at the prospect of Corbyn making it to Number 10 – yet it’s just that sense of “impossibility” that the Labour leader “hopes to exploit”.
Mr Corbyn used his first speech of the election battle to slam the “wealthy elite” and insist he can conjure up a shock Labour win on June 8.
But Corbyn was contemptuous of “the media and the Establishment” who believe the outcome of June 8th’s election is already a foregone conclusion. “The Conservatives, drunk on a failed ideology, are hell bent on cutting every public service they can get their hands on.
Labour is the party that will put the interests of the majority first”. The UK negotiators have hard decisions to make around how much to compromise on movement of people in order to maintain some movement of goods and capital. “Independence would lead to turbo-charged austerity in Scotland – not progressive politics”. This is despite broadcasters saying they will have the debate without the Prime Minister.
Labour is yet to release its manifesto but many are expecting it to be very leftwing, with the Financial Times tipping it to be the most leftwing since 1983 when Michael Foot was defeated.
He singled out Mike Ashley, Sports Direct owner and Sir Philip Green who faced severe criticism from Corbyn of the BHS pension scandal.
People could be placing more bets on Corbyn because the odds of him winning are much more generous, with polls suggesting Theresa May will increase her majority. This election is a chance for them to change direction of the country.
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Labour is “prepared to make radical change” and stand up to the elites, but this did not mean “picking off people of particular incomes”, she said. Whether you think prices are going up or down, Tradefair lets you take a view.
