Jeremy Corbyn urged Theresa May to end the Conservative “nightmare” and call a snap general election as he addressed record crowds at a Durham Miners’ Gala hailed as a “celebration of Corbynism”.
To the now-familiar chants of “Oh Je-re-my Cor-byn”, the Labour leader demanded an end to the public sector pay cap and a public inquiry into the “national catastrophe” of the Grenfell fire.
His speech to the 133rd Durham Miners’ gala was interrupted when a woman invaded the stage and briefly refused to leave, having fought her way through the crowds.
Corbyn told the huge rally of trade unionists and mineworkers that the general election campaign was “not just the excitement of youth, not just the concerns of older people, it was a fundamental unease”. He added: “Unease, that a society can go on in this direction with poverty and inequality alongside very rapidly rising huge individual wealth for a small number of people.”
To boisterous cheers, Corbyn went on: “I’ve got good news for the Tories: I know they’re living through a nightmare at the moment. I’m somebody, as you’re very well aware, that doesn’t get involved in personal abuse and would never exploit somebody else’s misfortune — so I want to help these Tories out of their nightmare.
“Feel free, at any time, to resign and we’ll have another general election.”
More than 200,000 people were expected on the streets of Durham for the 133rd so-called “Big Meeting”, a record turnout for the biggest trade union gala in Europe.
The march appeared as much a celebration of the north-east’s mining heritage as a mark of the surge in “Corbynism” in Labour’s heartlands, with scores of people wearing Corbyn-branded T-shirts and chanting the 68-year-old MP’s name.
Len McCluskey, the Unite chief, described the Labour leader as “the prime minister in waiting” and attacked Corbyn’s critics — singling out one-time leadership candidate Chukka Umunna — in a speech at the sun-dappled racecourse.
The union leader marvelled at the size of crowd and said: “I’ve been to many miners’ galas over the years but this has been the biggest, loudest and proudest one I’ve ever seen. Just like I’ve never seen rallies like those for Jeremy during the election campaign, it’s extraordinary this enthusiasm for our movement that has built for Jeremy’s vision.”
Corbyn left the stage to cheers and rapturous applause from the tens of thousands at the racecourse, and a standing ovation from the trade unionists and Labour colleagues on the stage.
Watching from the crowd, Linda Serrechia, 35, said of Corbyn: “His speech was excellent but if he’d done that at the start of the election he could’ve been prime minister now. “Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see him as PM but if he came out with all this at the start it might have been a different story.”
The chants of “Oh Jer-emy Cor-byn” had a musical accompaniment as brass bands went played along to the White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army as the procession snaked through Durham city centre.
Watching the procession from a grass bank across the River Wear from Durham Cathedral, Carol Stanley, 60, described the gala as a “celebration surrounded by like-minded people”. “It’s a special year with Corbyn and the way things are going,” she said.
She added: “I think we’re returning to the proper Labour party. I remember coming to this when Blair was in and the atmosphere was quite angry because people didn’t feel they were represented by him. He didn’t even bother to come here — that’s what he thought of these people.
“The chant that year, about 15 years ago, was: take back our party. There was very bad feeling about New Labour here and you did feel a lot of it at the gala.”
Her friend, Lynn Readman, 58, said she was not convinced about Corbyn — “I didn’t know whether he had the charm” — but said he had improved and that his anti-austerity message resonated where she lives in Brandon, a former mining village.
“When the miners’ strike was on we didn’t have a food bank or a clothes bank and now we’ve got both in Brandon. We’ve got a lot of families who are really deprived.”
Watching the procession near the Swan & Three Cygnets pub on Elvet Bridge, Rosemary Coleran, 34, pointed proudly to her Corbyn T-shirt and beamed: “I’ve been coming here for years but it was definitely the Corbyn factor that brought everyone out today.
“I thought we must come this year because he’s inspirational. When he gave that speech at the Sage [weeks before the election] it was electric, it was like watching a rock star, trying to get a glimpse of him.”
Her twin sister, Hannah Marshall, said his popularity was down to his straight-talking attitude. “He just speaks sense,” she said. “For people in the north-east he’s the only politician who we can relate to what they’re saying. It’s more than just turning up to do speeches, he comes and talks about issues that matter to working people.
“He’s always sided with working people his whole career and he’s been coming to the Big Meeting for years.”
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn addresses a rally at the Durham Miners Gala.
