JEREMY Corbyn has dismissed as "nonsense" Boris Johnson’s slur, comparing him to the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.
As Parliament is now dissolved and the Labour leader prepared to campaign on a pledge to end the need for food banks if his party won power, the Prime Minister wrote an article, claiming the Opposition leader shared Stalin's "hatred" of wealth creators.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Johnson said the Conservatives would "cheer, not sneer" entrepreneurs if they stayed in office after the snap December 12 election.
READ MORE: Boris Johnson bids to pull UK 'out of rut' ahead of Scotland visit
The Conservative leader said Mr Corbyn had taken a stance that demonises billionaires with an eagerness not seen since Stalin's attitude to landowners following the Russian revolution.
“The tragedy of the modern Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn is they detest the profit motive so viscerally…they point their fingers at individuals with a relish and a vindictiveness not seen since Stalin persecuted the kulaks,” wrote the Conservative leader.
The Labour leader, who will be campaigning in Shropshire today, pledging to end the need for food banks, "in-work poverty" and rough sleeping, took to Twitter to respond, writing: “The nonsense the super-rich will come out with to avoid paying a bit more tax...”
READ MORE: Boris Johnson brands Scottish independence as a 'crackpot' plan at PMQs
This morning, the PM is expected to visit Buckingham Palace for an audience with the Queen and announce the start of the election drive in Downing St.
This evening, he will be in the Midlands to launch his party’s election campaign, using its slogan “Get Brexit Done”.
Tomorrow, Mr Johnson is set to make his first campaign foray north of the border with a visit to north-east Scotland, where the Tories are defending a number of seats being targeted by the SNP.
He is expected to once again dismiss Nicola Sturgeon’s call for a second independence referendum and, as the self-styled Minister for the Union, will promote what he believes are the widespread benefits of the United Kingdom.
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