Boris Johnson said missing the three previous deadlines ‘breaks his heart’ and insisted the UK would leave the European Union on January 1 2020 if Tories win on December 12.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast this morning, he said ‘Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party who were responsible for that delay’.

He told to Naga Munchetty he had been forced into calling a General Election after Parliament refused his deal – but that is not quite true.

The Commons backed a second reading for his bill but Boris Johnson put it on hold and called a vote after MPs rejected his programme motion, which would have given only three days to scrutinise the legislation.

Johnson added: ‘We wanted to come out but you’ll remember, parliament blocked us, which is why we are having to have the election.

‘I don’t want to have this election now, I would much rather that parliament hadn’t blocked our deal and we could have got it over the line last month.’

The PM said he did not want an extension to the transition period beyond July 1 and saw no reason why one would be needed.

He said there will be ‘bags of time’ to develop a free trade partnership and pointed out there is already a ‘state of perfect alignment when it comes to our tariffs, our quotas, our industrial regulatory standards.’

Johnson said this means the deal with the EU is ‘unlike any other deal that they have ever done’.

Munchetty cited the UK’s net migration figure of 226,000 people and asked the PM if he wanted to see this rise or fall if he wins next month’s vote.

She told him five per cent of NHS staff are from other EU countries while 30 per cent are from countries outside the bloc.

The Tory leader responded: ‘I’m a pro-immigration politician, I think immigration can be a wonderful thing.

‘I happen to think that the rates that you’re talking about have been very high and what we will be able to do once we come out of the EU in January, once we get Brexit done, is we will be able to take back control of our borders.

‘And the great thing Naga, is that you will have democratic control. So when it comes to unskilled immigration, for people who don’t have a job to come to, we will get the numbers down.

‘Overall as a result, it will be lower, I can’t give you a figure but it will be lower.’

Johnson was asked whether a brain surgeon or a porter would get more points under the Australian-style system he wants.

He said a committee could look at the demand in each sector and decide what numbers are needed.

The PM warned a Labour Government would resulted in ‘uncontrolled immigration from the whole world’.

But the Tories were accused of ‘fake news’ for claiming there would be a ‘surge’ of people moving to the UK if Jeremy Corbyn wins.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said analysis of new research into their rival’s ‘open borders’ policy suggests net migration ‘could increase to 840,000 per year’.

She added: ‘Under Corbyn’s Labour, immigration would surge and put huge strain on schools and our NHS.’

But the Official Opposition is yet to officially announce its immigration policy since the snap-election was called.

Labour passed a motion at its conference to extend free movement and ruled out certain immigration systems, but this does not mean scrapping controls completely.

Shadow Home Secretary Dianne Abbott said: ‘This is more fake news from the Conservative Party’s make-believe research department.

‘Unlike the Tories, we won’t scapegoat migrants or deport our own Windrush-generation citizens.

‘The damage done to our society has been through damaging Conservative cuts to our public services, not by EU nationals coming to work in them.’