Boris Johnson has dismissed questions about his “f*** business” comment in relation to the prospect of a no-deal Brexit, describing it as a “stray remark to the Belgian ambassador”.

The MP, who is favourite to win the leadership contest and become the next prime minister, was challenged over the incident at the Conservative party hustings in Birmingham.

A Tory member, identified only as Alec, asked Mr Johnson: “In June last year during a Foreign Office reception you were asked about corporate concerns you replied ‘f*** business’. Is your attitude towards British jobs still as cavalier and as careless as it was then?”

Sky News was forced to briefly pause its live broadcast to apologise for the “bad language” used by the Tory member in asking his question.

Mr Johnson replied: “I bitterly resent the way one stray remark to the Belgian ambassador, who was making the case that the UK would not be able to leave the European Union, I don’t think that should be allowed to cloud what is I think pretty extraordinary record for a politician of sticking up for business at every conceivable opportunity.”

He went on to claim that he “stuck up for the bankers” after the 2007 financial crash and promoted UK business at home and abroad.

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”

Pressed again about his expletive-laden comment by host Iain Dale, he said: “I was referring to very powerful lobby groups who wanted to have a particular type of exit from the European Union, or non-exit, that would not achieve the result we want.

“I am the most passionately pro-business Conservative politician you would hope to meet.”

His comment about business had received criticism from MPs including former leadership rival Matt Hancock, who declared: “To the people who say ‘f*** business’, I say f*** f*** business.”

However, after withdrawing from the race, Mr Hancock decided to back the frontrunner and said: “Boris and I have both used language our mothers might disapprove of in this debate. But I have been reassured, again emphatically, that a Boris administration will be pro-business, pro-enterprise, supportive of the aspirational and the international.”