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Theresa May faces new calls to sack Boris Johnson after he claimed a Libyan city has a bright future - as soon as they "clear the dead bodies away".

The Foreign Secretary - who is meant to be Britain's top diplomat - made the astonishing gaffe tonight to a packed fringe event at the Conservative Party Conference.

Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry said Mr Johnson's "crass, callous and cruel" joke was a "disgrace" and he "does not belong in the office of Foreign Secretary". The Lib Dems said he must be sacked.

Thousands have died since Libya's civil war broke out in 2011 when long-term leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was toppled. ISIS militants seized control of the coastal city of Sirte in 2015 and were only ousted last year.

Mr Johnson said his trip to Libya in August was "fantastic", saying: "I think there is a genuine prospect of something happening there."

He told the event: "It's an incredible country, I mean you've never seen anything - bone white sands, beautiful seas, Ceasar's Palace, obviously, you know, the real one... Incredible place.

(Image: Daily Mirror)

"It's got real potential and young people who want to do all sorts of tech stuff.

"There's a group of UK business people actually, I don't know whether you have come across this, wonderful guys, who want to invest in Sirte on the coast, near where Gaddafi was actually captured and executed as some of you may have seen.

"They've got a brilliant vision to turn Sirte, with the help of the municipality of Sirte, to turn it into the next Dubai.

"The only thing they've got to do is clear the dead bodies away and then we'll be there."

(Image: Reuters)

As audience members laughed in disbelief he added: "There's an optimism."

Clearly shocked Tory peer Philippa Stroud, who was chairing the event by UK Finance and the Legatum Institute think tank, cut in to take the next question.

She added: "The dead bodies was the 'move on' moment."

Tory MP Heidi Allen called for Johnson to be sacked for the remark, tweeting: "100% unacceptable from anyone, let alone foreign sec. Boris must be sacked for this.

"He does not represent my party."

Lib Dem Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Jo Swinson demanded Theresa May sack Mr Johnson.

She said: "Diplomacy is a basic requirement for the role of Foreign Secretary.

(Image: Daily Mirror)

"This latest unbelievably crass and insensitive comment about an issue of such importance is further proof Boris is not up to the job. May needs to get her house in order and sack him."

Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry said: "It is less than a year since Sirte was finally captured from Daesh by the Libyan Government of National Accord, a battle in which hundreds of government soldiers were killed and thousands of civilians were caught in the crossfire, the second time in five years that the city had seen massive loss of life as a result of the Libyan civil war.

"For Boris Johnson to treat those deaths as a joke - a mere inconvenience before UK business people can turn the city into a beach resort - is unbelievably crass, callous and cruel.

"If these words came from the business people themselves, it would be considered offensive enough, but for them to come from the Foreign Secretary is simply a disgrace.

"There comes a time when the buffoonery needs to stop, because if Boris Johnson thinks the bodies of those brave government soldiers and innocent civilians killed in Sirte are a suitable subject for throwaway humour, he does not belong in the office of Foreign Secretary."

The astonishing remark came just hours after Mr Johnson joked that not everyone "completely follows our sense of humour" in his main speech to the party conference.