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Boris Johnson falsely claimed his promise to give £350m a week to the NHS was in the Tory Manifesto during a live TV interview.

And he was embarrassingly caught by wiley presenter Robert Peston trying to sneak a look at his notes at the beginning of the interview.

Even fellow Tory MP Sir Nicholas Soames was heard branding the Foreign Secretary a 'rotter' in the car-crash TV moment.

Viewers wrote in to the show to challenge the Foreign Secretary on the NHS claim, emblazoned on the side of his Vote Leave battle bus.

But he told ITV’s Robert Peston: “It is, actually, and Theresa May said it at the launch of our manifesto.”

This is untrue

There was no reference to funds sent to the EU in Mrs May's speech at the manifesto launch.

While the manifesto itself does refer to redistributing EU membership fees to UK regions, it says nothing about giving them to the NHS.

(Image: Getty) (Image: REUTERS)

Peston called him on the false claim: “She didn’t! I was there!”

Boris insisted: “She said we’re going to take back control.”

Peston said: “You were there loyally clapping in a supine way.”

(Image: REUTERS)

“I was, and rightly,” he said, adding that he likes being “bossed around” by Theresa May.

The original pledge from Vote Leave was launched in a joint press conference by Boris Johnson and International Trade Secretary Liam Fox. The poster read: “Let’s give our NHS the £350m the EU takes every week.”

Later, a similar claim, “We send the EU £350 million a week. Let’s fund our NHS instead” was plastered on a big red bus used by Johnson, Michael Gove and Iain Duncan Smith, among other Tory Brexit backers.

The Tory Manifesto says the money will not go to the NHS, but will be put in a "Shared Prosperity Fund" which will "redistribute money coming back as we leave the EU to the four nations."

Lib Dem Norman Lamb said: "Boris Johnson misled the public once, he must not be allowed to get away with it again.



"The NHS is in crisis, but the Conservatives are peddling blatant lies instead of providing the urgent investment our health service needs.



"It shows they are taking voters in this election for granted.



"The Liberal Democrats are being honest with the British people, we will put a penny on income tax to raise an extra £6bn a year for the NHS and care."