Boris Johnson has said he would refuse to pay the promised £39bn to the EU unless it offers better terms on Brexit.

In his first major interview of the Tory leadership race, the front-runner to succeed Theresa May said he would step up preparations to counter no-deal “disruption” if he was chosen as the next leader of the Conservative Party.

Mr Johnson told The Sunday Times he could defeat the twin threat posed by Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Comparing them to the sea monsters from Greek mythology that troubled Odysseus, he said: “I truly believe only I can steer the country between the Scylla and Charybdis of Corbyn and Farage and on to calmer water.

“This can only be achieved by delivering Brexit as promised on October 31 and delivering a One Nation Tory agenda.”

Biggest lies told by Boris Johnson Show all 5 1 /5 Biggest lies told by Boris Johnson Biggest lies told by Boris Johnson Made-up quote for The Times Johnson was sacked from The Times newspaper in the late 1980s after he fabricated a quote from his godfather, the historian Colin Lucas, for a front-page article about the discovery of Edward II’s Rose Palace. “The trouble was that somewhere in my copy I managed to attribute to Colin the view that Edward II and Piers Gaveston would have been cavorting together in the Rose Palace,” he claimed. Alas, Gaveston was executed 13 years before the palace was built. “It was very nasty,” Mr Johnson added, before attempting to downplay it as nothing more than a schoolboy blunder. PA Biggest lies told by Boris Johnson Sacked from cabinet over cheating lie Michael Howard gave Boris Johnson two new jobs after becoming leader of the Conservatives in 2003 – party vice-chairman and shadow arts minister. He was sacked from both positions in November 2004 after assuring Mr Howard that tabloid reports of his affair with Spectator columnist Petronella Wyatt were false and an “inverted pyramid of piffle”. When the story was found to be true, he refused to resign. PA Biggest lies told by Boris Johnson Broken promise to boss In 1999 Johnson was offered editorship of The Spectator by owner Conrad Black on the condition that he would not stand as an MP while in the post. In 2001 he stood - and was elected - MP for Henley, though Black did allow him to continue as editor despite calling "ineffably duplicitous" PA Biggest lies told by Boris Johnson Misrepresenting the people of Liverpool As editor of The Spectator, he was forced to apologise for an article in the magazine which blamed drunken Liverpool fans for the 1989 Hillsborough disaster and suggested that the people of the city were wallowing in their victim status. “Anyone, journalist or politician, should say sorry to the people of Liverpool – as I do – for misrepresenting what happened at Hillsborough,” he said. PA Biggest lies told by Boris Johnson ‘I didn’t say anything about Turkey’ Johnson claimed in January, that he did not mention Turkey during the EU referendum campaign. In fact, he co-signed a letter stating that “the only way to avoid having common borders with Turkey is to vote Leave and take back control”. The Vote Leave campaign also produced a poster reading: “Turkey (population 76 million) is joining the EU”

Mr Johnson said he would scrap the backstop – something the EU has so far refused to do – and would settle the Irish border issue only when Brussels was ready to agree to a future relationship.

The £39bn settlement would only be paid when there was greater clarity about the way forward, he said.

“I always thought it was extraordinary that we should agree to write the entire cheque before having a final deal,” he said. “In getting a good deal, money is a great solvent and a great lubricant.”

The former foreign secretary also revealed he had forgiven Michael Gove for sabotaging his leadership bid in 2016 and had recently hung up on Donald Trump because he thought the call was a hoax.

Mr Johnson has received backing from prominent Brexiteer Steve Baker, the deputy leader of the backbench European Research Group who had been considering his own leadership bid.

He also picked up endorsements from sacked defence secretary Gavin Williamson, cabinet ministers James Brokenshire, Chris Grayling and Alun Cairns, and former international development secretary Priti Patel.

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However he has faced attacks from supporters of the former Brexit secretary, Dominic Raab, who described Mr Johnson as a ”controversial face from the past”.

The nomination process will take place on Monday, with candidates requiring eight MPs to back them in order to enter the race, with the first round of voting on Thursday.