Speaking at an election campaign rally in Harlow, Essex, on Thursday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn claimed Boris Johnson will use Brexit to “unleash Thatcherism on steroids”. He said: “Margaret Thatcher’s attack on the working people of our country left scars that have never healed and communities that have never recovered. “The Conservatives know they can’t win support for what they’re planning to do in the name of Thatcherism.

“So they’re trying to do it under the banner of Brexit instead.”

The former Conservative leader, otherwise known as the Iron Lady, privatised many state-owned industries while in office and is seen as a hate figure in many of the working-class communities that voted to leave the EU in 2016, where Mr Johnson hopes to win seats from Labour to build a pro-Brexit majority.

In a recent event organised by The Spectator and attended by Express.co.uk, though, BBC presenter Andrew Neil brutally debunked Mr Corbyn’s claim, as he firmly stated that a “Johnson majority government” will not be in any way a return to Thatcherism.

He said: “The Conservatives have taken the view that to win this election, they need blue-collar votes.

“On Brexit, Labour blue-collar votes are largely on their side.

“But they are not on their side on austerity, not on welfare cuts. They are not on their side in not spending enough on schools and hospitals and the police.

“In this election you will see far more of an emphasis on Conservative spending, not on Conservative tax cuts.

“If there are tax cuts my guess is that they will take more low earners out of the National Insurance all together.

“It will be the bottom end.

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“A Johnson majority government will be more about spending, moving capital around, to consolidate this Brexit vote.

“It will not be in any way, I think, a return to Thatcherism.”

Mr Neil’s claims were further echoed by a new report, that found both Tory and Labour plans will significantly increase the share of GDP taken up by the state over the next Parliament.

This week, the Resolution Foundation think tank said spending sprees aimed at ending austerity and increasing public investment were central to the plans of both major parties and would drive spending above the average for the 20 years up to the 2008 financial crash of 37.4 percent of GDP.

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Pledges already made by the Chancellor, Sajid Javid, will increase the proportion of annual government spending to 41.3 percent of GDP by 2023, and likely to beyond the 42 percent average recorded between 1966 and 1984 once extra outlays on the NHS are taken into account.

One of the areas of government expenditure targeted by both parties is public investment, which was cut in the latter half of Margaret Thatcher’s term of office and through John Major’s six years in charge to below 1 percent of GDP.

It has risen in the intervening 20 years, but will get a boost from a little more than 2 percent to nearer to 3 percent under plans put forward by Mr Javid.

It is likely to rise above 3 percent should McDonnell become chancellor.

The report from the Resolution Foundation said: “The election therefore has the potential to reverse the Thatcher revolution on the public finances.”

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