Corbyn begins final tour of key seats with call to reject 'politics of despair'

Jeremy Corbyn has urged voters to “reject the politics of despair and division” as he began a whistlestop tour of key seats across the UK in Glasgow.

Speaking to a crowd of Labour activists gathered in the early morning darkness, the Labour leader said the British people had a choice: “Tomorrow you can vote for despair and the dishonesty of this government or you can vote Labour and get a government that is determined to bring about justice and equality in our society.”

Activists were in buoyant mood following the release of YouGov’s second constituency-by-constituency poll overnight, which suggests that – while the Tories remain the favourites – the possibility of a hung parliament cannot be ruled out.

The poll leaves the Conservatives unchanged on 43% and Labour on 34%, up two points, which would cut Johnson’s notional majority from 68 to 28.

Reflecting on a bitterly contested campaign, Corbyn said: “Our party has suffered the most unbelievable levels of abuse from some of the media and the right in British politics. But our strength, our ideas, our principles and our determination are stronger than ever.

“We have never indulged in the politics of personal abuse and we never will, because it demeans politics and demeans democracy, and at the end of the day it doesn’t build a house, it doesn’t train a doctor and it doesn’t eliminate poverty.”

Glasgow was the first stop in a tour that will take the Labour leader to the north of England and the Midlands, before ending at a rally in Hoxton, east London. Activists held up signs reading: ‘Scrap universal credit” as they gathered in front of the Govan Cross Christmas tree.

Corbyn said voters should focus on the issue of trust: “I’ve set up what the principles of our movement are: that we will never accept racism or discrimination in any form, that we want to create a society that works for everybody. We do not pass by on the other side.”

“Can you honestly trust a prime minister who cannot tell the truth about talks with the Americans about the privatisation of our National Health Service, who cannot tell the truth about the Brexit deliberations he so failed to deliver on, who keeps on making promises that turn out to be a mirage the following day? The question is when you go to vote you need to know that the people you’re electing mean what they say.”

The early campaign stop took place in the constituency of Glasgow South West, where Labour’s Matt Kerr is hoping to overturn the SNP’s majority of 60 votes. The SNP’s Chris Stephens, a former trade union official, has held the seat since the SNP landslide of 2015.

The SNP leader, Nicola Sturgeon, immediately responded to Corbyn’s call to “vote Labour all across Scotland” by urging voters to think tactically.

Sturgeon tweeted: “There’s not a single Tory/Labour marginal in Scotland. Only the SNP can beat the Tories in Scotland. Voting Labour will help the Tories.”

With the SNP running second in all Scottish Tory seats, she urged those who have not supported the SNP in previous elections to “lend” the party their votes.

She told the Guardian: “People understand that this election is not going to decide the issue of independence. People may well vote SNP to keep the Tories out, given the crossroads and the prospect of Boris Johnson for five years.”