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Foreign Office demanded BBC cover up Johnson's slur against the French

BORIS JOHNSON sparked controversy after it was revealed today that the Foreign Office demanded the BBC cover up that he called the French “turds.”

The comments were allegedly made during filming of a BBC2 documentary about life in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) that was broadcast last September.

It was filmed prior to Mr Johnson resigning as foreign secretary in July in protest of PM Theresa May’s Brexit plan.

The comment was made during Mr Johnson’s rant about his displeasure with France’s official stance on Britain’s withdrawal from the EU, accusing Paris of attempting to “sabotage Brexit.”

A memo from Whitehall asked the BBC to remove footage of this from the documentary as they believed that it may have made Brexit negotiations “awkward.”

Mr Johnson claimed today that he has “no recollection” of making the comment but that he would still be able to get a “good deal” for Britain if he becomes prime minister.

While the FCO did not comment, FCO Minister Sir Alan Duncan said: “I do remember that the filming of the documentary was a pretty high-octane venture. There were some pretty bumpy moments when we thought: ‘Ooh, we don’t want that to appear.’

“I imagine that there were discussions between the Foreign Office and the Beeb, saying: ‘Please don’t put that it in … or that, or that, or that, or that.’ This was perhaps one of them.”

The BBC justified its position, saying that the production team were “satisfied that the programme achieves its ambitions and has the content they wanted.”

Mr Johnson and Jeremy Hunt took part in hustings in Exeter today in their race to be the next PM. It is unclear how his rant will affect his campaign.

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