The BBC agreed to cover up an outburst from Boris Johnson in which he branded the French ‘turds’ over Brexit , it has been reported.
The broadcaster was following Johnson for a documentary when he made the remark, apparently out of frustration over France refusing Britain a better exit deal.
But according to the Daily Mail, they removed it from the finished documentary at the request of the Foreign Office.
A leaked Whitehall memo allegedly said the remark becoming public would make Anglo-French relations “awkward.”
Senior diplomats had also privately expressed concerns that it could make it harder for the UK to get a good Brexit deal, according to the Mail.
The comment was said to have been made during filming for three-part documentary Inside the Foreign Office, which was broadcast on BBC Two in November last year.
Mr Johnson had resigned as foreign secretary in protest at Theresa May's Brexit plan before the show went to air.
A spokeswoman for the BBC said: "The programme set out to reflect the realities of life inside the Foreign Office, the production team made judgments about what was in the programme and they are satisfied that the programme achieves its ambitions and has the content they wanted."
The Foreign Office declined to comment.
Meanwhile, Johnson is said to be preparing an ‘emergency budget’ for a no deal Brexit , including tax cuts and an overhaul of stamp duty, according to the Times.
And allies of Johnson were reported to have claimed he had offered Home Secretary Sajid Javid the job of Chancellor during a phone call at the weekend.
A spokesperson for Mr Johnson denied any Cabinet jobs had been offered.
