Boris Johnson has denied privately telling a group of ambassadors that he supported the principle of free movement, and said he had always made it clear that the UK needed to “take back control” of immigration. “I’m afraid I said absolutely no such thing,” Johnson said. The foreign secretary made several references, much to the surprise of Italian journalists, to a colourful former Italian “disco dancing socialist” named Gianni De Michelis, who served as Italy’s foreign minister in 1989. Later he said there was probably no political will to take such a step and that the UK “spends what we can”. “Whether in the EU or out of the EU, Britain belongs to Europe in many, many ways.

Source: The Guardian December 01, 2016 16:20 UTC