UK Election: Jeremy Corbyn urges voters to end nine years of Tory hell and boot out Johnson

Mr Corbyn urged voters to end nine years of Conservative rule. (Image: Rob Pinney/LNP)

Jeremy Corbyn has urged voters to end the nine years of Tory hell by ­axing lying Boris Johnson today and ­paving the way for a fairer Britain.

The Labour leader insisted only his party would keep the NHS from the clutches of profit-hungry US private firms, tackle poverty and reduce the growing inequality sweeping the country.

As he spoke, EU chief Michel Barnier ­shattered Boris Johnson’s boast that he will “get Brexit done” next year by warning trade ­negotiations could take longer.

And a new poll showed Labour had closed the gap on the Tories to just 5%, the smallest since October. Mr Corbyn said: “There’s a choice tomorrow. Either we continue with austerity and the horrible levels of poverty and security that many people face or you have a ­government that is serious about investing in the future.”

And he added at a meeting in Hoxton, East London: “The choice facing you, the people of this country, tomorrow is truly historic.

“The establishment doesn’t want Labour to win. They don’t want a Labour government on the side of the people, shaking up how this country is run.

“Boris Johnson will open our NHS to takeover by American mega ­corporations and carry on with more cuts. That’s why Donald Trump wants Boris Johnson to win. Tomorrow you can shock the establishment, by voting for hope.

“Hope for yourself. For your family. For your community. For our NHS. For our country. When Labour wins, the nurse wins, the pensioner wins, the student wins, the office worker wins, the ­engineer wins. We all win.”

Mr Corbyn called on activists to spend today convincing undecided voters to back Labour, after an ugly ­election campaign marred by disgraceful smears on his character and a string of blatant lies and empty promises by Mr Johnson.

He also had a dig at the PM for repeatedly ducking questions – and his latest bid to avoid scrutiny by hiding in a fridge on a milk round.

Mr Corbyn, who embarked on a 500-mile trip speaking to crowds around the land, told a Middlesbrough meeting: “I’ve not come here to deliver milk, or to hide in a fridge.

“I’ve come here with a message of hope. I am determined we go flat out, to get everyone to vote, and hopefully vote Labour and ­recognise in our manifesto there is hope, there is something positive.

“It is our chance tomorrow to elect a government that will be for the many not the few.”

He later added: “We now have had 51 days of this campaign and 51 days of unbelievable levels of abuse hurled at leading figures of the Labour Party. Unbelievable levels of character assassinations and I simply say this, if you wish to inhabit the gutter, that’s fine by me but I will not be joining you there.

"We’ve had six weeks in which we’ve been campaigning all over the country six weeks in which we’ve been under relentless media assault against my party, ­nevertheless our message has got through.

"A message that we will protect the NHS we won’t do secret deals with the United States.”

Labour Party chair Ian Lavery urged undecided voters to ask themselves “which side are you on”? He told activists: “When you knock on people’s doors when they say they don’t know ask them are they prepared to see people in the foreseeable future kids in poverty.

“Kids going to school with holes in their shoes, kids going to school without the right attire in these freezing cold conditions, not even having food in their bellies, 4.1million kids in poverty? We cannot allow this to continue.”

Mr Corbyn started his day in Glasgow, travelled to the North East then went to Rother Valley and Bedford before a final rally in London.

A new Savanta ComRes poll for The Telegraph newspaper showed the Tories unchanged on 41% but Labour up three percentage points to 36%. It came after a previous poll had predicted Mr Johnson was on track to win a 28-seat majority.

Mr ­Johnson’s boast about forging trade deals with the EU by the end of next year were blown apart by Mr Barnier last night.

In a leaked recording, the EU’s chief negotiator told a private meeting the 11-month timetable is “unrealistic”.

He told MEPs: “With regards to this agreement, we will not get ­everything done in 11 months.”

The recording undermines Mr Johnson’s election promises to deliver Brexit by January 31 and finalise a trade deal with Brussels by the end of next year.

He has always insisted he will not extend the ­transition period beyond that point – despite experts warning it was impossible – sparking fears of a ­disastrous no-deal.