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Boris Johnson squirmed when he was hit with an awkward question about the party being accused of misleading voters online.

The Conservative Party faced outrage last week after rebranding its Twitter feed 'factcheckUK' and posing as an independent fact checking service

Twitter warned the party they faced being booted off the platform if they tried to "mislead" voters in the same way again.

Today at the launch of the party's manifesto, Mr Johnson pleaded ignorance of the matter, despite it leading TV news bulletins and being widely reported in the media.

Asked if the deception undermined trust in the Conservative Party, Mr Johnson pulled a frown, shrugged his shoulders and looked around to the front row.

"I'm afraid that the Twittersphere is not really my province," he said.

Mr Johnson has 1.2 million Twitter followers and has sent 2,750 tweets since setting up his account in April 2015.

(Image: REUTERS)

He added: "But what I can say is that I'm informed that Labour have some sort of operation which is very similar to this.

"But I, you know, I'm...I haven't followed this Twitter stuff with quite the attention that you would like.

"I will apprise myself of the detail of this."

Despite repeatedly making unfounded and baselessclaims during his speech and Q&A, he went on to claim the damage done to trust in politics was by Jeremy Corby deciding to remain neutral in a Labour Brexit referendum.

Earlier, he claimed several times Labour planned to hold a Brexit referendum and a Scottish independence referendum in the first year after taking power.

Labour figures have repeatedly ruled out holding a Scottish referendum in at least the first two years of the next Parliament.