The Mayor of London, widely considered a potential successor to Prime Minister David Cameron, looked distinctly uncomfortable as he was grilled about past misdemeanours on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show by presenter Eddie Mair yesterday.

The interview which dwelled on a range of issues from the Mayor’s past including fabricating quotes and agreeing to help a friend with a plot to get someone beaten up, was described as “disgusting” and “low” by his father Stanley on Monday.

However, speaking whilst launching a new policing iniatitive in the capital with Bernard Hogan-Howe, Mr Johnson defended the right of BBC journalists to be “hard” on politicians.

He added: “Fair play to Eddie, he landed a good one.

“If the BBC can’t bash Tory politicans, what is the point of the BBC?”