Boris Johnson was urged to come clean over the 'screaming row' with his girlfriend today - as he faces damaging claims his torrid love life makes him a security risk.

After Mr Johnson bluntly refused to answer questions at Tory hustings, Jeremy Hunt insisted he was 'auditioning to be PM' and had to answer questions on 'everything'.

Interviewed on Sky News as he campaigned in Scotland today, Mr Hunt said: 'What Boris needs to do is engage properly in this leadership debate...

'This is an audition to be PM of the UK and Boris needs to show he is prepared to answer difficult questions.'

He added: 'I think someone who wants to be PM should answer questions on everything.'

Mr Hunt insisted he would not comment on Mr Johnson's private life, but complained he was 'refusing to have serious debate… refusing to be scrutinised'.

Team Hunt also turned the screw on Mr Johnson in the wake of the extraordinary episode at the flat owned by girlfriend Carrie Symonds, 31 - suggesting he could be open to manipulation and even blackmail.

The backlash came as a survey found his standing among Tory activists has taken a serious hit, with four weeks to go until the successor to Theresa May is declared.

Allies of rival Jeremy Hunt turned the screw on Boris Johnson (pictured at hustings in Birmingham yesterday) in the wake of the extraordinary episode by suggesting he could be open to manipulation and even blackmail

Speaking as he campaigned in Scotland today (pictured), Mr Hunt insisted he would not comment on Mr Johnson's private life, but complained he was 'refusing to have serious debate… refusing to be scrutinised'

Mr Hunt claimed he was the PM who Nicola Sturgeon 'wants the least' as he campaigned in Scotland today - including visiting a fish market in Peterhead

Mr Hunt also took a trip on a boat during his trip north of the border today as he pushed his leadership credentials

Trade Secretary Liam Fox - a supporter of Mr Hunt - said it would be 'easier' if he spoke frankly on the issue.

Sturgeon gloats as poll find PM Boris could fuel Scottish independence Nicola Sturgeon (pictured) said Boris Johnson would be a 'disaster' Nicola Sturgeon gloated that Boris Johnson will be a 'disaster' for the Tories today - as a poll found Scots could vote for independence. The SNP leader delivered a withering assessment of the would-be PM, saying he would 'damage the UK's reputation'. The attack came after a Panelbase poll found Mr Johnson taking charge at Downing Street could put the union at risk. A narrow majority of 51 per cent would currently vote no to independence, according to the research. But when people were asked for their intentions if Mr Johnson becomes premier, the proportion against would drop to 47 per cent. Speaking on Sky News' Sophy Ridge, Ms Sturgeon said: 'He will be devastating, disastrous for the Conservatives UK-wide.' She said: 'Brexit has damaged the UK's international reputation but close behind that, Boris Johnson's tenure has damaged the UK's reputation... 'I find it quite hard to get my head around that knowing everything they know about him, they are contemplating putting him in No10.' Advertisement

Asked about the bust-up, Dr Fox said the focus should be on policy, but told the BBC's Andrew Marr show: 'It's always easier to just give an explanation.'

Former foreign secretary Malcolm Rifkind also waded into the row, saying Mr Johnson risked looking like he had something to hide.

He told BBC Radio 5 Live: 'If you are a candidate to be prime minister and the police have been called to your house – fairly or unfairly – the fact is there was a police visit. You don't just say 'no comment'. That implies you may have something you don't want to disclose.

'All he could have said, quite reasonably, would have been that in all relationships there are occasionally outbursts of anger and disagreement.'

The couple were recorded by neighbours having a 'plate-smashing, screaming row' at the home in Camberwell.

Miss Symonds, 31, reportedly screamed 'get off me' and 'get out of my flat' during the bust-up with Mr Johnson. Police were called, but no formal action was taken.

But she was nowhere to be seen at the hustings, despite attending his campaign launch earlier this month.

Mr Hunt has made no secret that he hopes to make the head-to-head Tory leadership battle against Mr Johnson all about character.

And his supporters went a step further, with a senior cabinet minister describing Mr Johnson as a security risk.

He made the comments in conversation with another cabinet minister, who relayed them to the Sunday Times.

'There will be things in his private life that we don't know about,' the minister is reported as saying.

'There's the danger that people leak what they have over him or blackmail him with it.'

Dr Fox denied he was the minister who made the security risk remark, and also said he was not concerned about it.

'Boris has been the foreign secretary, who is in charge of MI6 as an example,' he said.

Mr Hunt was spotted chatting to people during a visit to Aberdeen beach earlier today

He took the time to visit his 99-year-old great aunt Betty in Peterhead while visiting Aberdeenshire

Mr Johnson's close ally Liz Truss, a Treasury minister, told the BBC Radio 5's Pienaar's Politics: 'There's no point in asking me, I believe it's a private matter...

'People know what he's like in office and that's what's important.'

One Survation poll for the Mail on Sunday was taken before news broke of Friday's dramatic incident gave Mr Johnson an eight percentage point advantage over Mr Hunt among all voters.

But another survey by the firm yesterday found that had turned into a three point deficit.

Among Tory voters, Mr Johnson's lead as the man who would make the best Prime Minister more than halved over the period, from a 27-point lead to just 11.

Meanwhile, senior Tories have warned a government led by Mr Johnson could be toppled on his very first day in Downing Street.

If the former London Mayor wins the leadership contest, No10 expects Jeremy Corbyn to call an immediate no-confidence vote in the Commons in an effort to bring down his embryonic administration.

Conservative Party chairman Brandon Lewis and members of the backbench 1922 Committee are understood to have expressed the fear that Mr Johnson would lose the vote, given that the party has a working majority of just four MPs and remains hopelessly split over Brexit.

Aberdeenshire West Scottish Conservative MP Alexander Burnett was also seen chatting to Mr Hunt

Mr Hunt was in Peterhead in Aberdeenshire today as he stepped up his campaign to overhaul Mr Johnson's advantage in the race to be PM

The Conservative party leadership candidate spoke to plenty of passersby at Aberdeen beach

Asked about the situation today, Liam Fox said the focus should be on policy, but told the BBC's Andrew Marr show: 'It's always easier to just give an explanation.'

Two exclusive surveys by this newspaper – one taken before and the other after news broke of Friday's dramatic incident – found that Mr Johnson's lead of eight per cent on Thursday had turned into a three per cent deficit yesterday among all voters

Mr Hunt has made no secret that he hopes to make the head-to-head Tory leadership battle against Mr Johnson all about character

Dr Fox also went on the attack over Mr Johnson's Brexit plans.

He said the front runner was wrong to claim the UK could waive tariffs on imports from the EU for up to 10 years under World Trade Organisation rules.

The Cabinet minister said: 'It isn't true. That's the problem.

'Article 24, sub section five it is, allows countries to deviate from what's called the most-favoured nation principal.

'And that is we have to treat one and other the same, give the same access to markets.

'There are two exceptions under that part of the trade law. One says if you are going to be in a customs union. The other says if you have got a free trade agreement

'But you have to have the agreement to benefit from any temporary relaxation.'

Revealed: The millionaire's Buddhist daughter whose anti-Brexit play was funded by the EU and her close-up magician partner who both tried to sink Boris

The couple who reported Boris Johnson to the police and recorded his row with girlfriend Carrie Symonds are ardent Remainers who have spoken out about Brexit.

Cambridge-educated Eve Leigh, 34, the daughter of a millionaire New Yorker, wrote a play as part of the Brexit Stage Left festival, which received funding from the Eurodram cultural project.

Husband Tom Penn, 30, is also a playwright and has performed close-up magic and toured Europe as a percussionist.

It is not know where the couple currently are, as neither have been seen at the property since details of the row were published in The Guardian yesterday.

The pair were listening through the walls from their flat above while Mr Johnson and Ms Symonds argued just after midnight.

Mr Penn and wife Ms Leigh called the police after they claimed they were 'frightened and concerned' by noises coming from the flat in Camberwell, south London, during the early hours of Friday morning.

In a statement last night Mr Leigh said his motivation for informing the police was not political and that 'the extent of my involvement in politics' was merely voting to remain in the EU during the 2016 referendum.

Scroll down for video.

Tom Penn and Eve Leigh (both pictured), who live in the same block as Carrie Symonds, said they heard 'screaming, banging and then silence' in the early hours of Friday morning

Ms Leigh's now deleted Twitter account (pictured her profile image) described Mrs May's policies as 'insanely cruel' and added that 'all Tories suck'

Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds, who accused Mr Johnson of spilling red wine on her sofa and ordered him to 'get off me' and 'get out of my flat'

But in a now deleted Twitter account, Ms Leigh wrote she, 'just gave Boris Johnson the finger, this weekend is unstoppable' and this summer, she added how 'all Tories suck'.

A source close to Ms Symonds said the finger gesture came after the former foreign secretary spoke to her while he was taking down anti-Boris Johnson posters, which Ms Leigh said she played no part in.

The posters, which are covered in EU stars and still plastered around Ms Symonds' home, have 'F*** Boris' written across them, adding, 'we'd rather endure him as our neighbour than our prime minister'.

She also previously claimed Theresa May had brought in 'insanely cruel policies', that Brexit was 'racist' and the Home Office was 'lower than vermin' as well as criticising Mrs May's policies as 'insanely cruel towards immigrants, poor people and people of colour'.

Ms Leigh also wrote: 'If you feel sorry for her [Mrs May], have a look at yourself.'

In November 2017, she commented on the Tory leadership contest, which Mr Johnson is the favourite to win next month.

The re-tweeted comment said: 'Today's debate: Has Boris Johnson set men in politics back decades?'

The previous July her account re-tweeted Guardian columnist Owen Jones urging donations to a Labour candidate in Mr Johnson's west London constituency of Uxbridge and South Ruislip.

It said: 'We can replace Boris Johnson with a Labour MP. Just imagine. Please donate here - and make history.'

Last February a tweet said: 'The government have blood on their hands after Grenfell. And now? If this cladding is the best the poor deserve rve then fit Downing Street with it.'

Anti-Conservative tweets on her Twitter account, which had been active for seven years before being taken down in the last couple of days, dated back to the Occupy London protests in 2012 when Mr Johnson was the capital's mayor.

That year she also co-wrote a production about the Occupy London protests that camped out at St Paul's Cathedral.

Ms Leigh was born in New York and is the daughter of a late millionaire composer. She once boasted about 'giving Mr Johnson the finger' on Twitter

Last week Ms Leigh wrote on Twitter that Tories were 'pretending to respect the memories of the Holocaust dead'.

Ms Leigh is an 'experimental playwright', games designer, 'theatremaker', a former palm reader and her partner also performs close-up magic, according to an interview in The Stage.

Earlier this year, one of her plays appeared in the Brexit Stage Left festival in London, a celebration of European theatre sponsored by a network of dramatists that is part-funded by the European Union.

Brexit Stage Left saw a group of stand-up comedians touring Europe performing 'cutting edge' plays from across the EU'.

The project held in January received financial backing from Eurodram, a cultural campaign funded with Brussels cash.

Eurodram's website reveals it is 'co-funded by the Creative European Programme of the European Union', which is a a £1 billion EU cultural project.