* Corbyn challenges vested interests of capitalism
* Names billionaires who he says run corrupt system
* Johnson warns Labour risks the United Kingdom
* Johnson has 15-17 pct. point lead - two polls
* Election could decide the fate of Brexit
(Recasts headline and lead)
By Elizabeth Piper and William James
LONDON, Oct 31 (Reuters) - On the day Britain was supposed
to have left the European Union, voters instead faced the start
of an election campaign, with opposition Labour leader Jeremy
Corbyn pledging to overthrow a "rigged system" he said was run
by billionaires and tax-dodgers.
After failing to deliver Brexit by the Oct. 31 deadline,
Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the Dec. 12 election to
break what he cast as a political paralysis that had thwarted
Britain's departure and undermined confidence in the economy.
Opinion polls suggest the election is Johnson's to lose. His
Conservative Party is leading Labour by 15 to 17 percentage
points, according to IpsosMORI and YouGov. Yet the overshadowing
issue of Brexit, which has divided both major parties and their
voters, could confound conventional calculations.
While Brexit frames the election, with Labour pledging to
hold a second referendum on it, it is being fought by two of the
most unconventional British politicians of recent years who
offer starkly different visions for the world's fifth-largest
economy.
In his first major speech of the campaign, 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.
"Together, we can pull down a corrupt system and build a
fairer country that cares for all," Corbyn, a 70-year-old
veteran socialist campaigner, said at a speech in London.
"Even if the rivers freeze over, we're going out to bring
about real change for the many, not the few," Corbyn said.
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 proposed nationalisation of rail, mail and water services
and 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.
HEALTH NOT BREXIT?
IpsosMORI said the Conservatives were on 41% with Labour on
24%. But that still leaves a third of the electorate up for
grabs - and voter poaching could decide the final result.
The Liberal Democrats want to win over the opponents of
Brexit while the Brexit Party is courting supporters of the
divorce. The Brexit Party is expected to set out some of its
strategy on Friday.
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 have delivered often unexpected
results that ushered in political crises.
Johnson will be aware that the Conservatives under his
predecessor, Theresa May, were polling at about 50%, double that
of Labour, ahead of the last election in 2017 but then went on
to lost their majority in parliament, eventually winning under
2% more of the vote share than Labour.
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.
He 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.
Corbyn repeated his claim that Johnson intended to sell off
Britain's National Health Service (NHS) to American companies as
part of a post-Brexit trade deal with U.S. President Donald
Trump.
Johnson has denied any such intention. His party was on
Thursday campaigning under the slogan: "Back Boris for more NHS
funding."
The prime minister, who was hailed by the U.S. president as
Britain's 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.
(Additional by Costas Pitas and Andrew MacAskill; Writing by
Kate Holton and Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by John Stonestreet
and Pravin Char)
