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Channel 4 has apologised after misquoting Boris Johnson as saying "people of colour" instead of "people of talent".

The broadcaster tweeted a clip from Mr Johnson's visit to Derbyshire and its caption quoted him as saying: "I'm in favour of having people of colour come to this country."

It later deleted the tweet and apologised, stating its team had misheard Mr Johnson.

The statement said: "Boris Johnson says 'people of talent' not 'people of colour'.

"Our earlier tweet was a mistake. We misheard and we apologise."

Commenting on the Channel 4 tweet, a senior Tory source branded Channel 4 "campaigners in this election".

They said: “This shows why it has been impossible to co-operate with Channel 4 News, they are campaigners in this election – inventing the most damaging things possible to further their campaign against Brexit.

"This sort of thing is why so many media organisations have collapsing audiences. We sadly do not expect the senior management at Channel 4 to take this terrible mistake seriously and we expect more of the same."

The Standard has contacted Channel 4 for further comment.

It comes amid a row between BBC broadcaster Andrew Neil and the Coservatives, over the PM ducking an interview with him.

On Thursday, Mr Neil challenged Mr Johnson to agree to an interview on the theme of "trust" and why voters have "deemed him to be untrustworthy".

A senior Tory source claimed the public are "fed up" with TV interviews that are "all about the interviewer and endless interruptions".