Campaigning in the general election will officially begin later, after Parliament was dissolved in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Boris Johnson has met the Queen at Buckingham Palace, marking the start of the election period in the run-up to the 12 December poll.
The Conservatives will also launch their campaign, with Mr Johnson promising he can “get Brexit done”.
Meanwhile, in a speech Jeremy Corbyn will pledge “real change” under Labour.
Elsewhere, as the starting pistol is fired on five weeks of official campaigning:
- The Green Party is launching its campaign with a promise to invest £100bn a year on climate action
- The Liberal Democrats have pledged to spend £2.2bn a year on mental health services, funded by a 1% rise to income tax
- Tory MP Andrew Bridgen has apologised “unreservedly” for comments about the Grenfell Fire Tragedy
- A senior Welsh Conservative says it looks “very difficult” for Alun Cairns to lead the party’s election campaign in Wales after his former aide “sabotaged” a rape trial.
- Labour’s ruling body meets to discuss whether Chris Williamson and Keith Vaz can stand as candidates
Tory Party chairman James Cleverly has defended the conduct of the party’s campaign so far after two Conservatives were forced to apologise for comments about the Grenfell tragedy and the party was accused of “doctoring” a video of Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer talking about Brexit.
Mr Cleverly said Jacob Rees Mogg and Andrew Bridgen’s remarks about the actions of Grenfell victims had “caused hurt and distress”, telling BBC Breakfast “we don’t always get things right and when we get it wrong we apologise”.
However, he insisted the Starmer video – which has been described as “inexplicable” by one of his own MPs Johnny Mercer – was “obviously light-hearted” and would not be removed.
He said those in the party “point their fingers” at the rich “with a relish and a vindictiveness not seen since Stalin persecuted the kulaks” – wealthier peasants during the Russian Revolution, many of whom were murdered or starved to death.
Mr Johnson also likened the UK to a “supercar blocked in the traffic” by Brexit, adding: “If we can get Brexit done, there are hundreds of billions of pounds of investment that are just waiting to flood into this country”.
And he repeated his claim that as well as another referendum on Brexit, a Labour government would also lead to a second vote on Scottish independence.
