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Tory Brexiteer Mark Francois reportedly got a stern telling off from US Speaker Nancy Pelosi during an awkward meeting about the Northern Ireland Border.

The Speaker of the US House of Representatives branded Mr Francois 'condescending' during a meeting with senior European Research Group (ERG) members.

Also at the meeting were Jacob Rees-Mogg , Sir Bernard Jenkin and Steve Baker.

According to the Times, the discussion took a turn when the ERG members played down the thorny issue of the Northern Ireland border.

Ms Pelosi was reportedly so offended by members of the group that she turned to Mr Francois and said: "Don't condescend to me or to us."

(Image: AFP/Getty Images)

A source who was in the room told the Times: "His face turned from already red to even brighter red.

"They were really condescending to the group, repeatedly saying the issue had been 'concocted' by Remainers, Brussels, and Leo Varadkar, and essentially that they were unwitting dupes."

Ms Pelosi is visiting the Northern Ireland border today as part of a week-long visit to the UK and Ireland.

(Image: PA)

Mr Francois said: "We had a good discussion with Speaker Pelosi and her delegation in which she kindly said twice, 'You guys have been the most consistent of anybody we have spoken to since we've been here'.

"However, a number of the delegation had clearly visited the province prior to 1998 and made constant references to a hard border, including some cases of barbed wire and watchtowers.

"We did our best to point out that no one was contemplating any such arrangement on the border including Leo Varadkar who has said himself that no such infrastructure would be necessary."