Jeremy Corbyn launched Labour’s 2019 election campaign with a speech in Battersea this morning.

In an address that lasted nearly one hour, the Labour party leader – introduced as “The next Prime Minister.” – shared the “most radical and exciting plan to bring real change ever put before the British public.”

Whilst many expect Brexit to be of importance to voters in the upcoming election, domestic policy seems to be Labour’s main focus. Corbyn’s announced that his party plans to give extra funding to the NHS, to build an economy around a green industrial revolution, and that he intends to scrap Universal Credit.

Mr Corbyn did however reinforce what now seems to be a fully formed Brexit strategy. He confirmed that, if in government, he would negotiate a “sensible relationship” with the EU within 6 months of being elected. The deal would then be subjected to a confirmatory vote with remain as an option.

However, when the opposition leader was asked how he himself would vote in a second referendum, he avoided the question, choosing instead to champion his party’s social policy. He confirmed that Brexit had “divided people and families”, but that their interests are the same regardless of how they voted in the referendum. 

While the crowd reacted extremely positively to a declaration of intent to bring “rail, mail and water” into public ownership, Mr Corbyn appears to have backtracked on his intentions to nationalise private schools, instead reverting to plans to remove their charitable tax status.

Video: Jeremy Corbyn’s speech to Labour Conference 2019

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