Boris Johnson branded the children of single mothers "ill-raised, ignorant, aggressive and illegitimate" in a magazine column, it has emerged.

In the same column, he argued it was "feeble" for a man to be reluctant or unable to "take control of his woman."

He said it was “outrageous" that married couples should fund "'the single mothers' desire to procreate independently of men.”

And he said a way needed to be found to "restore women's desire to be married."

The comments, made in a 1995 issue of the Spectator, were unearthed on the same day the Tory leader will pledge to "support women to reach their full potential."

After saying working class men are "likely to be drunk, criminal, aimless, feckless and hope- less, and perhaps claiming to suffer from low self-esteem brought on by unemployment."

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He added: "If he is white collar, he is likely to be little better.

"It is no use blaming uppity and irresponsible women for becoming pregnant in the absence of a husband.

"Given their natural desire to have babies, and the tininess of what the sociologist William Julius Wilson has called the 'marriageable pool', it is the only answer."

Shadow Attorney General Shami Chakrabarti said: “These unearthed comments further reveal Boris Johnson ’s contempt for women and families, as he hypocritically attacks what he appallingly describes as 'illegitimate' children.

“From attacking single mothers working hard to raise their kids, to advocating sexual harassment in the workplace, his sexist comments are an affront to women everywhere. He has no right to attend or have any involvement in this event.

"Someone whose attitudes towards women are straight out of the dark ages is not fit to be prime minister of our country."

It emerged in September that Mr Johnson wrote that David Cameron is a "girly swot" on a private Cabinet paper.

It came days after Mr Johnson used similar language in the Commons, calling Jeremy Corbyn a "big girl's blouse" over the Labour leader's decision not to back the PM's bid for an election while the risk of a no-deal Brexit remained.