Boris Johnson seeks to regain campaign initiative with warning of Brexit 'limbo' if no Tory majority

As Jeremy Corbyn prepares to make a final trip to Scotland in the next 24 hours, strategists were still working out last night if Mr Johnson should do the same and make his second visit of the campaign to a marginal Scottish seat.

As Thursday’s ballot draws near, the pace of the campaign is reaching its climax with Mr Johnson due to give a speech on the stump in Staffordshire, where he will warn that nothing can be taken for granted and will appeal for voters – despite the forecast strong wind and heavy rain – to turn out in numbers and vote Conservative.

In his speech, the PM will declare: “It’s time to send in the bulldozers and smash through the gridlock.

“But the only way to do that is to vote Conservative. The danger of another hung parliament is clear and present. There are sophisticated and well-financed attempts underway to prevent a Conservative majority through tactical voting.

“Jeremy Corbyn and his Lib Dem, Nationalist and Green allies need only 12 more seats than last time to make him Prime Minister and continue the chaos of a hung parliament. A vote for any of these parties is a vote for further indecision and two more referendums, on Brexit and Scottish independence.

“We’ll be stuck in this limbo, this first circle of hell, for the foreseeable future,” Mr Johnson will warn.

On the other hand, he will argue the Conservatives need only nine more seats for a Commons majority. “We could finally get Brexit done, end the uncertainty and move on,” he will say.

Mr Corbyn, meanwhile, preparing for a trip to northern England, declared: “I’m feeling very happy, very confident,” noting how during the six-week campaign Labour had “got the message out” and rejected calls to encourage tactical voting to defeat the Tories.

Today, he will pledge that his Government during its first 100 days would put a “relentless focus” on the NHS, pointing to new research that Labour says reveals hundreds of “extreme” risks to patient and staff safety in hospitals south of the border.

The Labour leader will point to how official NHS documents point to the long-term impact that Tory and Liberal Democrat underfunding is having on health care.

In government, Labour would immediately undertake a full audit of the risks revealed by the research and prioritise capital spending to ensure people and buildings are made safe.

Describing the NHS papers as “shocking” and which showed health care was in crisis, Jonathan Ashworth, the Shadow UK Health Secretary, said: "It is one thing for clinicians and managers to say what needs fixing but we need a Labour Government that will crack on and do it.

"We pledge that within the first 100 days of a Labour Government we will get on top of this to ensure the extra funding we've promised is prioritised to keep patients and staff safe.”

He added: "The choice at this election is clear: five more years of the Tories running our health service into the ground with more patients waiting longer for cancer treatment and operations and more young people denied mental health care or a Labour Government on the side of patients and staff, with a rescue plan for our NHS."

As the governing Conservatives seek to put the emphasis of the campaign on getting Brexit done, Labour is keen to place the emphasis on saving the NHS and Mr Johnson’s trustworthiness.

Yesterday, John McDonnell, the Shadow Chancellor, gave a keynote speech in which he set out what Labour’s priorities would be in a February 5 Budget to end austerity, including rebuilding public services, giving all public sector workers a five per cent pay rise and beginning the process of renationalising utilities.

But he also insisted Mr Johnson was a “man whose word you cannot trust”. And within hours the two issues came together when the Tory leader was asked about the plight of Jack Williment-Barr, the four-year-old boy photographed lying on the floor of Leeds General Infirmary, suffering from suspected pneumonia.

The graphic picture showed Jack lying on a coat on the hospital’s floor with an oxygen mask by his face. He lay there for more than four hours and spend another five on a trolley before being seen by medial staff at three o’clock in the morning, who diagnosed that he was suffering from flu and tonsillitis.

But it was the PM’s response in an interview with ITV’s Joe Pike, which deepened the political row.

At one point during the interview, Mr Johnson, visibly rattled and under pressure, was shown the photo of Jack on the interviewer’s mobile phone.

But the Conservative leader refused to look at it, took the phone and put it in his coat pocket.

Only when Mr Pike related to viewers what Mr Johnson had done, did the PM remove the phone from his pocket and look at the picture on it.

“It’s a terrible, terrible photo,” he admitted, “and I apologise obviously to the family and all those who’ve had terrible experiences in the NHS but what we are doing is supporting the NHS and…patients in the NHS have, on the whole, a much better experience than this poor kid has had.”

After warning of “deadlock and division” under a Corbyn-Sturgeon coalition, Mr Johnson ended the interview by telling Mr Pike: “I’m sorry to have taken your phone. There you go. Thank you.”

Later, Matt Hancock, the UK Health Secretary, was swiftly dispatched to the hospital to meet its chief executive. He said he was “horrified” by Jack’s case and noted: "I have three small children myself. I have spent many evenings in A&E. I know what it feels like. I want to make it better."

Asked what he said to Jack's family, Mr Hancock replied: "It's not good enough and I've apologised. The trust have handled it very well. The staff here have been brilliant.”

After more than four hours on the hospital floor and five more in a trolley, Jack was seen at three in the morning. He diagnosed with flu and tonsillitis and went home.

Mr Johnson’s response to the boy’s case led to a barrage of criticism from his political opponents.

Mr Ashworth accused the PM of hitting a “new low” and said: “Don’t give this disgrace of a man five more years of driving our NHS into the ground. Sick toddlers like Jack deserve so much better."

Jo Swinson, the Liberal Democrat leader said Mr Johnson would not look at the photo because "he doesn't care about Jack. He doesn't care about anyone other than himself".

Ian Blackford for the SNP branded Mr Johnson "a man with no empathy and no moral compass".

He tweeted: "The picture of the young boy in Leeds is horrific. His unwillingness to even show remorse proves just how unfit he is to serve as prime minister."

In other developments -

*Mr Johnson revealed he was "looking at" abolishing BBC licence fee and pointed to a wholesale review if he gots back in power, questioning if the current system "still makes sense in long term".

*Jo Swinson all but dropped the Liberal Democrats’ revoke policy as she admitted her party forming a majority government did “not look likely" and stressed its focus was securing a People’s Vote.

*Mr McDonnell attacked the political Establishment saying: “Those at the top...will do anything to stop us and we've seen it: character assassinations; lies and smears taken to a new level in British politics."

*Liberal Democrats claimed analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies meant Brexit was already costing the UK Government as much as £470 million a week; “money that could have been spent on the NHS instead”.

*Mr Corbyn refused to say whether he would resign as party leader if Mr Johnson retained power.

*Ipsos Mori pollsters said the proportion of voters who mentioned the NHS as the big issue for Britain this month had risen 18 points since October to 54 per cent while concern about Brexit fell by six points to 57 per cent.

*The PM warned Tory MPs they would face disciplinary action if they broke the party’s Brexit pledge, insisting they would be "crazy" not to think it was the best way forward.

*The Brexit Party expelled a local councillor and dismissed a part-time official after they were filmed by undercover reporters making racist comments against Muslims.

*Bookies placed the return of a Tory Government at 1/4 on ie a “79 per cent probability”.