BORIS Johnson has assured the public that he says ill-thought-out, inflammatory nonsense quite openly, so there is no need to secretly record him.

After the pro-Brexit foreign secretary was taped warning of a Brexit ‘meltdown’ at a private dinner, he took the opportunity to remind Britain he says far more idiotic things in his official public statements.

Johnson said: “Remember when I said that we’d get a good deal because of prosecco? I said that to the Italian government. Hard to believe, isn’t it?

“Or when I recited that racist poem in a Buddhist temple? Or told Libya it’d be a lovely place for a holiday once they cleared the corpses away?

“Next week I’ve got a ridiculous speech where I blithely toss off plans to put all EU citizens in internment camps and demand ransoms for their return. It’s just what I do.

“I’m not just a blithering tosser in private. It’s 24-7, 365 days a year.”