BORIS Johnson will today seek to throw the political focus away from investigations into his links with US businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri with a pre-election promise to instigate the “biggest programme of hospital-building in a generation” with 40 new hospitals at a cost of £13 billion.

The Prime Minister’s announcement – which would deliver a knock-on windfall for the Scottish Government of more than £1bn – sets up a key battleground with Labour on the NHS in the expected forthcoming General Election.

It comes as Conservatives gather in Manchester for their annual conference, dominated like the other parties’ gatherings by Britain’s impending withdrawal from the EU; the slogan is “Get Brexit Done”.

Mr Johnson arrived at the conference centre with partner Carrie Symonds and gave a whimsical smile as a range of chants rang out from protesters such as "Boris is a liar" and "Get your Johnson out of our democracy".

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, the PM pointed to “considerable” savings that would result from Brexit, noting how spending on the NHS was central to his vision of “a united society and a united country”.

The announced hospital-building programme in England would begin with a near £3bn cash boost for six hospitals over five years. The remainder of the extra spending, running to some 10bn, and covering 30 more hospitals would be completed in the following five years in a decade of major investment.

“We’re launching the biggest programme of hospital-building in a generation,” declared Mr Johnson.

Among the initial projects getting a financial boost will be Whipps Cross Hospital in east London, where, earlier this month, the PM was confronted by an angry father.

Other announcements included:

*£200 million will be invested into UK companies developing life-saving treatments for diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's, which will unlock a further £400m in private investment, enabling life sciences companies to commercialise successful new products without going abroad and

*the NHS in England is to recruit 1,000 extra specialist staff to treat mental health issues. 

A number of senior Conservatives, who do not share their party leader’s approach to Brexit, are this year not attending conference, including Ruth Davidson, the former Scottish Tory leader, and David Mundell, the former Scottish Secretary.

Today, there will be contributions from the conference stage from Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, and Stephen Barclay, the Brexit Secretary, while Mr Johnson is expected to speak at the traditional Scots Reception this evening, which follows the official Scottish fringe event at lunchtime, due to be addressed by Jackson Carlaw, the acting Scottish Tory leader.

Last night, it was suggested the PM was deliberately raising fears about public disorder over Brexit so that he could invoke emergency powers and avoid the legal requirement for him to seek an extension to Britain’s withdrawal beyond October 31.

Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer told The Observer: “Whipping up the idea of riots or even deaths if we do not leave the EU on October 31 is the height of irresponsibility but it is also pretty obviously being orchestrated. If this is part of a Government plan to misuse powers under emergency legislation, I can assure the Prime Minister, we will defeat him in court and in Parliament.”

Dominic Grieve, the Remainer Conservative kicked out of the Tory Party along with 20 colleagues for rebelling on Brexit, said a possible use of the Civil Contingencies Act was the “only route” open to Mr Johnson and his advisers to stop a delay to Brexit.

“But if they do try to do this, it would be a constitutional outrage. And if it passed through Parliament, it would be immediately challenged in the courts.”

No 10 made clear it was not considering any use of the Civil Contingencies Act, stressed the Government would obey the law but ensure Britain left the EU on October 31.

Last week, Sir John Major, the former premier, expressed fears that the Government might seek to use “political chicanery” to bypass the Benn Act to extend Brexit by using an Order of Council, a measure undertaken by Tory privy counsellors without any involvement by the Queen.

While Mr Johnson would like to focus on delivering Brexit and a string of expected announcements through conference, he remains under pressure over his conduct as London Mayor after he was referred to the police complaints body to assess whether he should face a criminal investigation over his links with the American model-turned businesswoman.

The Greater London Authority[GLA] said its monitoring officer had recorded a "conduct matter" against Mr Johnson over allegations Ms Arcuri received favourable treatment because of her friendship with him while he was mayor of London.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct will now consider whether there are grounds to investigate the Prime Minister for the criminal offence of misconduct in public office.

The move has been greeted with fury in Downing St, which denounced the referral by the GLA, led by Labour mayor Sadiq Khan, as a "nakedly political put-up job" on the eve of the party conference.

Theresa Villiers, the Environment Secretary, said: "This whole thing has been blown out of all proportion. This seems to be pretty obviously a politically motivated complaint.

"The Prime Minister has been clear there is nothing to see here. I do feel this is a distraction and it is people seeking to use the complaints process in a highly political way," added the Cabinet Minister.

However, Jeremy Mr Corbyn said: "A wholly independent assessment has looked at evidence of the payments made by the mayor's office to one particular company and says there are serious questions to answer. The job of the Prime Minister is to answer those questions."

Meanwhile, the SNP’s call for opposition parties to back a Corbyn emergency premiership to secure a Brexit extension and a snap general election thereafter was failing to gain support among some of the smaller parties.

Stewart Hosie, the former deputy leader of the Nationalists, insisted a no-confidence vote to oust Mr Johnson and replace him with a caretake prime minister was the “only game in town”.

The Dundee MP argued that Mr Corbyn, as the leader of the largest opposition party, should have the first chance of forming an alternative government but if another person, such as former Conservative Chancellor and Father of the House of Commons Ken Clarke, could rally enough cross-party support, then “self-evidently that would be a good thing”.

Mr Hosie, noting how the Liberal Democrats had set their face against the Labour leader as a caretaker premier, added: “If Jo Swinson and the Lib Dems are actually serious about their stopping Brexit position, then they need to stop playing political games, get on board with everybody else."

But while the Labour leadership would obviously like to win a no-confidence vote, it remains wary that the numbers are there at Westminster. Even if the Lib Dems could be persuaded to see Mr Corbyn in Downing St, the 20-plus Tory rebels could not be.

The Labour leader said the prospect of a general election was "getting more likely every single day".

He explained: "This Government is collapsing, it's now lost all seven votes since Boris Johnson became Prime Minister. This Tory government has been defeated over 45 times in Parliament.

"They don't have a majority, they don't have a programme, they don't have the policies," added Mr Corbyn.

He is expected to convene another meeting of opposition leaders in Westminster on Monday to plot their next moves aimed at preventing a no-deal Brexit on October 31.

Anna Soubry, leader of the Independent Group for Change, which has five MPs, also warned about rushing into a no-confidence vote.

“We do not want any votes of no-confidence until that extension is up and running and even then I will only support one knowing it will result in a government of national unity resulting in a People’s Vote confirmatory referendum.”

This latter idea would most likely keep a caretaker premier in Downing St for at least six months and not the few weeks some are looking to to simply get rid of Mr Johnson and the Conservatives, secure an extension from Brussels and call an election.

In a separate development, Labour’s John McDonnell called on the Cabinet Secretary to investigate claims Mr Johnson was pursuing a no-deal Brexit to help currency speculators and hedge funds who bankrolled the Tories.

In a letter to Sir Mark Sedwill, the Shadow Chancellor expressed concern that big Conservative donors who backed Mr Johnson had a financial interest in a no-deal break.

Elsewhere, there is speculation that on the morning of the PM’s keynote speech on Wednesday, the Liberal Democrats could unveil at least one more defector to its ranks; it is known the party has been in talks with former Conservative MP Heidi Allen.