Jeremy Corbyn: I'm being vilified for fighting the British establishment

Jeremy Corbyn used his first major speech of the general election campaign to suggest that he was being "vilified" by the UK media for taking on the "establishment".

The Labour leader, addressing his supporters in Westminster on Thursday 20 April, compared his treatment to the party's founder, Scottish socialist Keir Hardie.

"There are people in the audience wearing badges of Keir Hardie. He was vilified, vilified beyond belief, when he was elected as the first ever Labour MP," Corbyn said.

"They said 'how can a working man go to parliament and represent people?'. Anyone who stands up to create a better, fairer and more decent society gets vilified. Our party is vilified.

"But I'll tell you what: We're bigger than we have ever been, we're stronger than we have ever been and we are more determined than we have ever been."

Corbyn's anti-establishment message ran throughout his speech as he blamed the Conservatives for a "rigged economy".

"Labour is the party that will put the interests of the majority first, while the Tories only really care about those who already have so much," the left-winger said.

"That is why we will prove the establishment experts wrong and change the direction of this election. Because the British people know that they are the true wealth creators, held back by a system rigged for the wealth extractors.

"Theresa May will insist that this is an election about Brexit. She will try to downplay the issues that affect people's lives every day and instead turn the election into an ego trip about her own failing leadership and the machinations of the coming negotiations in Brussels.

"It is only Labour that will focus on what kind of country we want to have after Brexit."

But beyond Corbyn announcing that 2,500 people had joined Labour in the 24 hours after May's call for a general election on 8 June, his speech lacked any new policies.

The Labour leader also dismissed the opinion polls, with YouGov giving the Tories a 24 point lead.

"In 2015, I was given 200/1 as an outside chance," Corbyn said in reference to his successful Labour leadership bid. The Conservatives, meanwhile, have published their first attack advertisement.

The poster, with a "coalition of chaos" tagline, features SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon alongside Corbyn and Liberal Democrat boss Tim Farron. Corbyn has ruled out forming an anti-Tory electoral alliance with the Greens and the Liberal Democrats.

"This is yet more evidence of chaos from Jeremy Corbyn and Labour. It shows they can't provide the strong and stable leadership Britain needs at this serious moment in our history," said Patrick McLoughlin MP, the Conservative Party chairman.

"It's clear Labour, the Lib Dems and the SNP are now lining up to disrupt our Brexit negotiations in a coalition of chaos. This can only mean more uncertainty for Britain, more risk and a future that is less secure.

"On 8 June every vote is going to count. Every Conservative vote will strengthen the UK's negotiating position in Europe – every vote for another party will weaken it."