Jeremy Corbyn at Church House assembly hall in central London yesterday. He told activists: “We will not let the elite extract wealth from the pockets of ordinary working people any longer”

Jeremy Corbyn cast himself as the scourge of the establishment as his first major speech of the election campaign mimicked key themes used by his predecessor Ed Miliband.

The Labour leader cast the June 8 poll as a battle of “the establishment versus the people” as he promised to overturn a “rigged system” that allowed the rich and powerful to extract wealth from the nation.

A “morally bankrupt” Conservative Party was intent on preserving the system while cutting public services and blaming migrants and the unemployed for the woes of the economy, he said.

Mr Miliband’s 2015 election campaign focused on presenting Labour as the champion of the people against the establishment, fighting battles against big business and the media.

Mr Corbyn told an audience