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Boris Johnson has finally kicked off his election campaign by ludicrously comparing Jeremy Corbyn's leadership to the forced removals and deaths of millions of Soviet peasants.

He also decided to make defending the world of business his first act of the 36-day countdown, saying: "We don't sneer at them, we cheer for them."

The Tory leader used the bizarre comparison as he tried to distract from a string of scandals in his own party including a doctored campaign video, a failed bid to use the civil service to cost Labour policies and Jacob Rees-Mogg's shameful comments on Grenfell.

Jeremy Corbyn replied: "The nonsense the super-rich will come out with to avoid paying a bit more tax..."

It came as he visits the Queen this morning and speaks in Downing Street following the dissolution of Parliament for the December 12 election.

He wrote in the Daily Telegraph: "The tragedy of the modern Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn is that they detest the profit motive so viscerally - and would raise taxes so wantonly - that they would destroy the very basis of this country's prosperity.

(Image: Peter Macdiarmid/LNP)

"They point their fingers at individuals with a relish and a vindictiveness not seen since Stalin persecuted the kulaks."

Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin's police of "dekulakization" aimed to "liquidate" formerly wealthy farmers known as kulaks by stripping them of their homes in a move that led to mass deaths.

Anand Menon, director of the UK in a Changing Europe think tank, said: "Millions of kulaks died. This is a ridiculous analogy."

Lionel Barber, editor of the Financial Times, said: " Boris Johnson should redo his history exam. Under Stalin, tens of thousands of kulaks died due to forced collectivisation.

"Resulting famine killed three to five million in the Ukraine. Corbyn’s nationalisation plans are dangerous for economy but historical analogy is absurd."

Writer Mark Steel added: "I’d always thought Stalin starved the Kulaks, but it turns out he abolished the bedroom tax so they didn’t have to rely on food banks. Thank the Lord we’ve cleared that up after all this time."

(Image: Getty)

Labour's Andrew Adonis said: "When Johnson meets the kulaks of Uxbridge, he will find their real concerns are Brexit, austerity & the state of the NHS & schools . And the commissar they blame is him."

The developments came on a day in which:

Senior Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg apologised after condemnation of his comments that Grenfell fire victims lacked common sense.

The Green Party readied a campaign launch with a pledge to borrow more than £900 billion over the next decade in a bid to rid the UK of fossil fuels.

Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns faced calls to resign after being accused of lying about his knowledge of an allegation that a Conservative candidate had sabotaged a rape trial.

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.

As well as kicking off the Conservative campaign in the West Midlands on Wednesday, the PM was expected to visit Buckingham Palace for an audience with the Queen, and announce the start of the election drive in Downing Street.

(Image: PA)

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."

He is expected to say: "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."

Mr Corbyn will say on Wednesday that Labour will end the need for food banks if it takes power.

(Image: PA)

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

He is using a speech in Telford, Shropshire, on Wednesday to insist the party will deliver "real change" and that he will be a different kind of prime minister if elected on December 12.

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.

The sharp exchanges came as Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg apologised "profoundly" for suggesting Grenfell victims should have used "common sense" and ignored fire service guidance not to leave the burning tower block.

Mr Rees-Mogg faced widespread criticism, including from Grenfell survivors and Mr Corbyn, after he said people are safer if they "just ignore what you're told and leave", while discussing London Fire Brigade's (LFB) "stay-put" policy.

Grenfell United, which represents survivors and the bereaved, had said his words were "beyond disrespectful" and "extremely painful and insulting to bereaved families".

The Greens' joint leader Sian Berry, meanwhile, is set to outline the party's plan to borrow more than £900 billion to turn the UK carbon neutral by 2030, as she calls on voters to make December 12 a "climate election".

The party plans to hike corporation tax by 5% in an attempt to service the huge debt, which will be used to build 100,000 energy-efficient homes a year and upgrade national transport infrastructure.

In other news, the shadow secretary of state for Wales, Christina Rees, has accused Mr Cairns of "brazenly lying" about his knowledge of an allegation a Conservative candidate had sabotaged a rape trial, and called on him to resign.

The Cabinet minister claims he had been unaware of former staff member Ross England's role in the collapsed trial until after the story broke last week.

BBC Wales said it had obtained a leaked email sent to Mr Cairns which showed he had been made aware of the allegations as early as August last year.