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Jeremy Corbyn predicts a general election in 2019 – and says he is raring to take on the Tories.

In an exclusive interview with the Sunday Mirror, the Labour leader spelled out his plans for the year ahead.

His party has been on a war footing since the last election and he thinks those preparations might come in very useful.

On his predictions for 2019, he said: “The Government is going to struggle. It may well resign. There may well be a general election. And I can’t wait.”

If Labour wins, he says he already has a Brexit plan – return to Brussels and negotiate the best possible deal.

And Mr Corbyn insists he will make sure Theresa May’s deal is thrown out by Parliament.

(Image: Rowan Griffiths/Daily Mirror)

“I’m determined to hold this government to account, vote the deal down and reopen those negotiations,” he declared.

“We know what we’re doing. We’re clear on our objectives. This government is getting it badly wrong and a lot of jobs are at risk if they go on like this.”

He said the Government had reneged on its vow to hold a meaningful vote and his priority was to secure one soon so the present plan could be voted down.

If Britain were to leave the EU, Mr Corbyn added that “on current form we would be very badly off”. He told how a briefing by his shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth had highlighted the dangers of a no-deal Brexit.

“Jon gave us an outline at the last Shadow Cabinet meeting of just some problems the NHS would face,” he said.

“For example, insulin isn’t made in the UK – it has to be imported from Europe.”

(Image: John Alevroyiannis/Daily Mirror)

More than a million people with ­diabetes live in the UK, yet the main manufacturers are all based abroad.

And Mr Corbyn said quitting the EU without a proper deal would cause other complications.

“We’d be stuck in a backstop with no escape unless approved by the EU. And if we fail to get a deal we’d end up with World Trade Organisation conditions from the end of March.

“That would be disastrous for manufacturing.

“That’s why I’ve put forward the need for a customs union with the EU and access to the single market.”

The May deal will be debated and finally voted on when Parliament returns in January.

Mr Corbyn said a second referendum was still possible, though he does not feel the House would back such a move.

On how he would vote in one, he said: “It would depend what the question was – but we’re quite far from that anyway and I’m not sure there’s the support for it in Parliament.

"The issue is protecting jobs, manufacturing and the rights and conditions we’ve got – not making us the bargain basement of Europe.”

He is confident of being able to ­negotiate successfully with Brussels and would ensure his Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer was involved.

(Image: Eyevine)

“We’d obviously be doing it jointly,” he said.

“I’d be involving my Cabinet in what we did – something Theresa May appears not to do.

"Keir would be free to travel to Brussels as many times as he likes. The Eurostar is quite good fun.”

The final Prime Minister’s Questions of the year saw Mr Corbyn pose a number of queries about Brexit.

But they were overshadowed by a row as he was caught on camera muttering something at the Tory benches. Social media was quick to accuse him of mouthing “stupid woman” at the PM.

But he says: “I’d put six questions to the Prime Minister. I pointed out they were spending £4billion of public cash in preparation for a no deal when there are 100,000 NHS vacancies and 20,000 police officers have lost their jobs.

“At the end she and her colleagues – and it all looked pre-orchestrated – turned it into a pantomime. And I just stared at them and muttered to myself, ‘Stupid people’. That’s all.

“Minutes later it was all over Twitter. The furore in the media and Parliament after was utterly contrived.”

(Image: David Johnstone Photography)

Mr Corbyn said he was regularly barracked and shouted at during PMQs.

“You can’t help but hear it,” he added, “but it doesn’t bother me. I don’t lose sleep on a Tuesday or a Wednesday night.

“Or any other night for that matter. If people are shouting at me, they’re usually doing it for a reason.”

He contrasted the Commons scenes with another story this week about a homeless man dying at Westminster Tube station – yards from the entrance to Parliament.

Mr Corbyn said: “He’s not the first person to die outside Parliament but somehow this is not a story that’s worth talking about.

“Hang on, we’re the world’s sixth richest country yet people are out there desperate for something to eat and a warm, dry place to sleep.

"Like this man. He won’t be the last person to die on our streets.” He told how his Islington constituency has a growing population of outdoor sleepers.

“Within five minutes’ walk from here a very large number of people are sleeping rough in Finsbury Park and under the railway bridge there,” he said. “I talk to many of them.

“Lots of people round here give them support. That’s great. But they need a place to live.

"The solution has to be institutionalising food banks and shelters. We need to institutionalise the belief everyone deserves somewhere to live.”

(Image: PA)

He said meeting a homeless person on a train made him realise how serious the issue is – and he has vowed to end rough sleeping during Labour’s first term.

“It’s incredible how people end up on the streets,” said Mr Corbyn.

“A guy asked me for some cash on the train last year. I gave him some then asked what happened to him.

"He told me, ‘A few months ago I felt I was doing well. I got a job as a bar manager, with a flat and decent pay.

“'Then I found I didn’t actually have a job – I was self-employed so I had no rights.

"'They got rid of me. I explained to my landlord. He said it wasn’t his problem and threw me out.’

"So in a month this man went from what he thought was secure to sleeping rough.”

Mr Corbyn hopes Parliament will give more time to issues affecting the country.

“This week there was an hour of Commons time given over to spurious points of order,” he said.

“Laura Pidcock raised Universal Credit and poverty but was barracked by Tory MPs.

"It shows the Tories ­priorities – that they want to ignore the stress people are living under.”