UK Labour leader takes on the elites in election pitch

• Brexit may have dominated British politics -- and increasingly everyday life.
• Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn set the tone for a "them versus us" campaign.
• Labour's focus was instead on public services and inequality, on which Corbyn's party.

But at the main opposition Labour party's first main rally for a pre-Christmas election, it took a back seat to what supporters said were the real issues facing the country.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn set the tone for a "them versus us" campaign, promising to "pull down a corrupt system".

On the day Britain should have left the EU, he mocked his rival, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, for failing to keep his pledge never to delay Brexit beyond October 31.

He then promised that Labour would get the issue "sorted" by holding a new referendum within six months.

Labour's focus was instead on public services and inequality, on which Corbyn's party -- which is languishing in opinion polls -- has traditionally been strong.

Activists chanted "Not for sale! Not for sale!" as he warned the state-run National Health Service must not be opened to private firms in any post-Brexit trade deal with the United States.

There were also cheers when he set out plans to re-nationalise the railways, mail and water companies, tackle climate change, end homelessness and invest in public services.

He accused the Conservatives of thinking they were "born to rule" and were concerned only with the "privileged few", adding: "Real change is coming."

Speaking at an arts centre in south London, Corbyn vowed to pursue "the tax dodgers... the dodgy landlords... the bad bosses.. the big polluters".

He repeatedly asked, "Whose side are you on?", to which the crowd shouted, "Yours!"

"A Labour government will be on your side as well. Together, we can pull down a corrupt system and build a fairer country that does genuinely care for all," he declared.

- Brexit 'a side issue' -

Many Labour MPs disagree with Corbyn's left-wing views, and he has the lowest approval ratings of any opposition leader since 1977, according to pollsters Ipsos Mori.

He is also accused of a lack of leadership on Brexit, promising to get a new EU divorce deal and hold a new referendum, but not yet taking a view on what he wants the result to be.

On Brexit, Corbyn said the interests of families struggling with high rents, insecure work or debt were the same whether they voted Remain or Leave.

Many Labour party members watching him agreed.

Clayton Pearce, 45, an IT consultant, said he voted for Brexit in the 2016 referendum but was now concerned about Tory cuts to public services.

"Brexit has been a side issue to the real elephant in the room, which is people whose lives have been destroyed," he told AFP.

Labour activist Maria McCaul, 50, added: "No matter what people voted before, they have to look to the future -- climate change, education, crime.

"Brexit will be a dim and distant dream when we are under water."