Boris Johnson falsely claims £350m for NHS after Brexit pledge is in the Conservative manifesto

Asked on ITV’s Peston on Sunday why the party made no reference to the pledge in the manifesto, the Foreign Secretary said: ‘It is actually. It is. Theresa May, she said at the launch of our manifesto’

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has falsely claimed the pre-referendum pledge to inject the NHS with £350m a week after Brexit is in the Conservative manifesto.

Asked on ITV’s Peston on Sunday why the party made no reference to the pledge in the manifesto released earlier this week, Mr Johnson replied: “It is actually. It is. Theresa May, she said at the launch of our manifesto.”

But the Prime Minister made no reference of the referendum promise in her speech and no mention of the extra £350m can be found in the party’s manifesto for the general election.

During the EU referendum Mr Johnson toured the country on a battle bus promising voters a £350m-a-week spending bonanza for the health service alongside other leading politicians in the campaign that persuaded British people to vote Leave.

But the figure has been widely disputed – the UK Statistic Authority described it as “potentially misleading” during the campaign as it failed to take into account the rebate from the EU to the UK public sector.

Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrats’ health spokesperson, said Mr Johnson had “misled the public once” and he “must not be allowed to get away with it again”.

He added: “The NHS is in crisis, but the Conservatives are peddling blatant untruths instead of providing the urgent investment our health service needs. It shows they are taking voters in this election for granted.”

Last month the Foreign Secretary stood by the pledge, however, when asked by ITV’s Good Morning Britain. On the programme Mr Johnson was also presented with a photograph of him with the slogan: “Let’s give our NHS the £350m the EU takes every week.”

Chuka Umunna, a leading supporter of the Open Britain campaign and senior Labour politician, said: “Contrary to what Boris wants us to think, the Prime Minister has not let him off the hook and pledged to spend the extra £350m a week on the NHS that Vote Leave promised.

“Instead, our NHS faces the prospect of more cuts, less funding and poorer services under this Government’s actual plans.

“They have had the chance to do the decent thing, keep their promise, and give our NHS the support it needs. But they have failed to do so, and now it is the NHS that will suffer as a result of Boris Johnson’s cynicism and impossible promises.”