Boris Johnson compares Jeremy Corbyn to Stalin as he launches Conservative general election campaign

Boris Johnson compared Jeremy Corbyn to former Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, as the Prime Minister gears up to launch the Conservative Party's General Election campaign.

It comes as the starting gun was officially fired on the election campaign, with Parliament dissolved in the early hours of the morning, marking the start of five weeks of official campaigning.

The Prime Minister has visited Buckingham Palace to meet the Queen and formally announce the start of a General Election outside Downing Street.

Mr Johnson leaves Downing Street to visit Buckingham Palace. Credit: PA

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Johnson claimed the Labour leader hated wealth creation as much as Russia's former Communist leader.

Mr Johnson wrote the Conservatives would "cheer, not sneer” entrepreneurs if they stayed in office after the snap December general election.

Mr Johnson posted an image of himself leaving Downing Street on his social media page. Credit: PA

He added that Mr Corbyn's stance which demonises billionaires with a "relish and a vindictiveness” has not been seen since Stalin’s attitude to landowners following the Russian revolution.

Mr Johnson is expected to put Britain’s withdrawal from the EU, the NHS, and law and order at the centre of the Tories’ campaign.

It comes as Mr Corbyn prepares to campaign on a pledge to end the need for food banks if Labour is elected on December 12 poll.

Stalin led the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until 1953. Credit: AP

So what will happen on Wednesday?

Mr Johnson will launch the Conservative Party's campaign in the West Midlands, as he tries to put Brexit, the NHS, and law and order at the heart of his election campaign.

Mr Johnson is expected to say: “There is only one way to get Brexit done, and I am afraid the answer is to ask the people to change this blockading Parliament.

“It’s time to change the dismal pattern of the last three years and to get out of our rut.

“Let’s go with this Conservative government, get Brexit done, and unleash the potential of our great country – delivering on the public’s priorities of our NHS, crime and the cost of living.

“Meanwhile the alternative is clear – Jeremy Corbyn and his two favourite advisers, dither and delay, turning 2020 into the year of two miserable referendums, one on the EU, and another on Scotland.

“And remember that a vote for any other minor party is effectively a vote for Corbyn, and his catastrophic political and economic programme.”

Opinion polls as an average in the past seven days. Credit: PA Graphics

Labour pledges to eradicate food banks and homelessness

As Mr Johnson kick-starts his campaign, Mr Corbyn is moving on to Telford, Shropshire to say Labour will end the need for food banks.

The Labour leader will say that a Labour government will end “in-work poverty” and rough sleeping.

He will say the party will deliver “real change” and that he will be a different kind of prime minister if elected.

Mr Corbyn will also say he will make sure that more than 100,000 “genuinely affordable” homes are built every year, and that rough sleeping comes to an end.

Greens will borrow £900bn to make UK carbon neutral by 2030

The Green Party will announce they will borrow more than £900 billion to turn the UK carbon neutral by 2030, as joint leader Sian Berry urged voters to make December's poll a "climate election.

The party plans on increasing corporation tax by five per cent in an attempt to service the debt, which will be used to build 100,000 energy-efficient homes a year and upgrade national transport infrastructure.

Elsewhere on the election trail, Nigel Farage will be campaigning in Workington and Carlisle, Nicola Sturgeon will be urging remain voters to back the SNP in Alloa, while Jo Swinson will visit Golders Green and Watford, focusing on mental health.

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