* Corbyn challenges 'vested interests' of capitalism
* Names billionaires who he says run corrupt system
* Johnson warns Labour risks the United Kingdom
* Election could decide the fate of Brexit
(Updates, changes date, recasts with Corbyn)
By Guy Faulconbridge and Kate Holton
LONDON, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Britain's opposition Labour Party
leader, Jeremy Corbyn, kicks off his election campaign on
Thursday with a vow to take on Britain's "rigged system", which
he said was run by a privileged elite of tax dodgers,
billionaire owners and bad bosses.
On the day Britain was supposed to leave the European Union,
both Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his main opponent, Corbyn,
are on Thursday pitching their starkly different visions for
world's fifth largest economy ahead of a Dec. 12 election.
In a sweeping challenge to the Western capitalist consensus,
Corbyn said the election was a once-in-a-generation chance to
overthrow what he cast as a corrupt elite which profited by
exploiting workers, lying to the public and polluting the
environment.
"This election is a once-in-a-generation chance to transform
our country, take on the vested interests holding people back
and ensure that no community is left behind," Corbyn, a
70-year-old veteran socialist campaigner, said in remarks
released by his party.
Corbyn named prominent billionaires such as landowner Hugh
Grosvenor, Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley, Ineos CEO Jim
Ratcliffe, hedge fund manager Crispin Odey and U.S. media tycoon
Rupert Murdoch as representatives of Britain's "rigged system".
He proposes nationalisation of rail, mail and water services
and much higher taxes on the bankers who have made London the
pre-eminent international financial capital.
The first December election in Britain since 1923 will be
one of the hardest to call in years. Brexit has variously
fatigued, enthused and enraged swathes of voters while eroding
loyalties to the two major parties.
A five-year flurry of two historic referendums - on Scottish
independence in 2014 and Brexit in 2016 - and two national
elections in 2015 and 2017 delivered often unexpected results
that ushered in political crises.
UK UNDER THREAT
Johnson, who has failed to deliver on his "do or die"
promise that Britain would leave the EU on Oct. 31, is pitching
the election as a chance to get Brexit done, and he will accuse
Corbyn of threatening the United Kingdom's future.
Johnson says Labour's plan to hold another referendum on
Britain's membership of the bloc, and the possibility of Labour
agreeing to another referendum on Scottish independence, risk
ripping the United Kingdom apart.
"Today should have been the day that Brexit was delivered
and we finally left the EU," Johnson said in pre-prepared
remarks provided by his office.
"But, despite the great new deal I agreed with the EU,
Jeremy Corbyn refused to allow that to happen – insisting upon
more dither, more delay and more uncertainty for families and
business."
Johnson, who was hailed by the U.S. president as Britain's
Donald Trump, will visit a school, hospital and police unit to
argue that Britain needs to deliver Brexit so it can move on and
focus on investing in public services.
The Conservatives are ahead of Labour by an average of about
10 percentage points in polls this month, indicating a majority
in the 650-seat parliament for Johnson, though pollsters admit
their models are imperfect with turnout a key variable.
(Writing by Kate Holton and Guy Faulconbridge; editing by John
Stonestreet)
