His clash with the Channel 4 journalist
MICHAEL CRICK: Mr Johnson, haven’t you been all over the place on immigration in the last five years? In 2013 you described yourself as the most pro-immigration politician in Britain. Then we had the referendum...
JOHNSON: I think I said roughly the same just now. Anyway…
CRICK: In the 2016 referendum, you and your chum Dominic Cummings in the Vote Leave campaign suggested 80 million Turks would come to this country if we stayed in the EU, which was absurd then and is absurd now. Doesn’t all of this show you’ll say anything just to win an election - In this case the Conservative leadership election?
JOHNSON: Actually, I didn’t say anything about Turkey in the referendum. I think anybody who has followed my utterances in the last 20 years will know that I have always been in the camp of those who defends and supports…
CRICK: Do you disown them?
JOHNSON: Since I made no remarks I can’t…
CRICK: Your campaign did. The Vote Leave campaign did.
JOHNSON: I didn’t make any remarks about Turkey.
CRICK: Do you disown them? You were the leader of the Vote Leave campaign.
JOHNSON: You do me too much honour. I was happy to support leave and I do and I did. I happen to think that immigration can be a wonderful thing in our country but as I said time and time again it’s got to be controlled.
CRICK: April 17 you said: ‘I’m very pro Turkish but what I certainly can’t imagine is a situation in which 77 million of my fellow Turks and those of Turkish origin come here without any checks at all. You said ‘this is mad. That won’t work.’
Mr Johnson walks into other room. No response.