Steve Coogan backs Jeremy Corbyn for PM because 'Tories are taking the p***'

Actor says Theresa May has shown herself to be 'weak and wobbly at the first line of questioning'

Steve Coogan at a rally supporting Jeremy Corbyn. He is a long-standing Labour supporter (Getty Images)

Steve Coogan has endorsed Jeremy Corbyn for Prime Minister saying people must vote Labour to “change their futures”.

The actor accused the Conservatives of “taking the p***” and said Theresa May had shown herself to be “weak and wobbly at the first line of questioning”.

“This election was supposed to be a slam-dunk for the Tories. They have the cash, the resources and the infrastructure of mass communication on their side but something extraordinary has happened," he said in an article for the Huffington Post.

“The electorate, the many, have started to question the unending guff being fed to them by [Paul] Dacre, [Richard] Desmond, etc.

“The Tory tactic was to try to make this a choice between Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn, but this has backfired as people - and I readily admit to being one of them - have started to listen to what Jeremy Corbyn says rather than what other people have been saying about him.”

Coogan, who is a long standing Labour supporter and has campaigned with Hacked Off, also attacked the “billionaires who own our print media” for supporting Ms May.

He said: “From before the snap election was called, Labour had begun to set out their plans to invest in public services (the NHS, education, social care, affordable housing, affordable fuel) whilst addressing inequality and redistributing the resources that the wealthy have accumulated over the last seven years of ‘austerity’”.

“When their manifesto was published, it didn’t just include a raft of policies that attract popular support, it provided costings and sources of funding too.”

In contrast he called the release of the Tory manifesto a “disaster” which targeted the elderly and primary school children.

“You can boil all this down to a simple phrase. It’s called ‘taking the piss’”, he said.

As the general election campaign entered its final stages, both sides are trying to canvass the last few voters.

Ms May was criticised for taking a private plane to fly from Southampton to Norfolk for the last leg of her campaign.

Meanwhile Mr Corbyn has been forced to defend ally Diane Abbott after it was announced she is temporarily stepping down from her role as shadow Home Secretary due to “ill health”.

Ms Abbott withdrew from a series of interviews and campaign stops on Tuesday after a disastrous interview with Sky News on Monday when she could not recall the contents of a report about counter-terror policing.