JEREMY Corbyn and Boris Johnson both made pledges to fix the Brexit issue as they hit the campaign trail and began to set out the battle-lines for the pre-Christmas election.

The Labour leader promised to "get Brexit sorted" in six months as he accused the Prime Minister - on the day of his “do-or-die” pledge to see Britain leave the EU went unfulfilled - of being solely to blame for the departure delay.

For his part, Mr Johnson – who today marks 100 days of his premiership - insisted he had an “oven-ready deal” that could be “put…in the microwave as soon as we get back after the election on Friday December 12”.

The early skirmishes came as an Ipsos Mori poll gave the Conservatives a 17-point lead, placing them on 41 points, Labour on 24, the Liberal Democrats on 20 and the Brexit Party on just seven.

Nigel Farage dismissed as “idle speculation” suggestions his party was seriously considering withdrawing candidates in hundreds of seats to concentrate resources on just a small number of Labour-held seats in northern England.

John Longworth, the Brexit Party MEP, said: “We ought to be targeted in terms of the number of seats that we decide to address.

“I can imagine that might be 20 or 30. They would be entirely winnable…if you poured all your resources into them. You probably would not get any more if you concentrated on the 600. But you would also get a better result for Brexit too,” he added.

While details of the Brexit Party’s election strategy could come today, such a mooted move might prove highly significant and ease the Prime Minister’s path to retaining power in Downing St.

Last night, Tom Watson, the Labour Deputy Leader, sent a warning shot across broadcasters’ bows, urging them to "rise to the challenge of Boris Johnson's lies" during the election campaign.

He accused the Tory leader of having a history of not telling the truth and urged TV and radio chiefs to be aware of this in their coverage of the countdown to the December 12 poll.

In what Tories are likely to dismiss as an election stunt, Mr Watson's letter to the BBC's Director General and the chief executives of other major broadcasters referred to the "serious matter of honesty in public life and trust in politics".

The Shadow Culture Secretary said: "Ensuring honesty in public life is a responsibility that we all share. Boris Johnson's wilful disregard for basic standards of decency are a threat to democracy.

"We appeal to the media to do what they do best and challenge Boris Johnson's repeated attempts to rely on fake news, lies and distortions.”

Earlier at Battersea Arts Centre in London, Mr Corbyn set out his party’s core election message to around 400 enthusiastic and vociferous supporters at Labour’s election campaign launch.

Branding the Tories as the “Establishment elite,” who believed they were born to rule, he said: “They’ll fight harder and dirtier than ever before. They’ll throw everything at us because they know we’re not afraid to take them on.

“So we’re going after the tax dodgers, we’re going after the dodgy landlords, we’re going after the bad bosses, we’re going after the big polluters. Because we know whose side we’re on…A Labour government will be on your side; together, we can pull down a corrupt system and build a fairer country that cares for all.”

In his speech, the Labour leader pledged policies on minimum wages rises, house-building, ending rough sleeping, re-nationalising "rail, mail and water" and ending the climate crisis.

Promising the “biggest people-powered campaign in history,” he declared: “When Labour wins, the nurse wins, the pensioner wins, the student wins, the office worker wins, the engineer wins. We all win.”

Mr Corbyn declined to say whether he would step down if Labour lost the pre-Christmas poll, insisting: “It’s not about me” but he added: "I love doing this job."

On Brexit, the party leader argued that the only way to resolve the matter was through a second referendum.

"We need to take it out of the hands of the politicians and trust the people to have the final say. Labour will get Brexit sorted within six months. We'll let the people decide whether to leave with a sensible deal or Remain. That really isn't complicated."

His pledge came as the Labour leader fuelled more speculation that he was engaged in what Tory HQ has branded a “shady backroom deal” with Nicola Sturgeon to facilitate a second Scottish independence referendum should Labour win power.

In answering journalists’ questions, the Labour leader revealed he had had a private meeting with the First Minister last week when she was in London to speak out against the UK Government’s early election bill and demand more time for scrutiny.

The meeting lasted around half an hour and was also attended by Seumas Milne, Mr Corbyn’s chief press aide, and Nick Brown, the Labour Chief Whip. Sources said the subject of indyref2 was not discussed and the topic for discussion was Brexit.

Mr Corbyn said: “I last had a discussion with Nicola Sturgeon about 10 days ago. I do keep in touch with, obviously, political leaders around the country because that is what leading the party is all about.

“You know what, when we go into government it’s going to be so much different and so much better, because we’ll have a different world and a different society and a government that doesn’t try and divide people but instead tries to bring them together.”

The Conservative leadership has claimed a deal is being cooked up between Labour and the SNP, so that, if Mr Corbyn formed a minority government, he would cut a deal with the Nationalists to enable Scotland to hold a second vote on its future in return for votes in the Commons to help him push through his radical socialist agenda.

But the Labour leadership has insisted there will be no pacts and has dismissed talk of a backroom deal with the SNP as “fantasy and fake news”.

Just minutes after Mr Corbyn made his statement at Labour’s election campaign launch, Ms Sturgeon dampened down speculation of any post-election Labour-SNP tie-up when, during First Minister’s Questions, she confirmed she held Mr Corbyn and Mr Johnson in low regard, describing both of them as “completely and utterly useless”.

Elsewhere, the Liberal Democrats launched their campaign slogan “build a brighter future” displayed on digital signs mounted on a van, which drove around Parliament Square, although at one point it was stopped by a crowd of Leave supporters outside the Commons.