London mayor caught in foul phone tirade

London: Boris Johnson launched a furious foul-mouthed attack against a senior MP in a telephone call.

The Mayor of London also accused Labour MP Keith Vaz, chairman of the all-party Commons home affairs committee, of "bullshit", say sources.

The two men clashed over the accuracy of evidence given by Johnson over when he first spoke to Tory leader David Cameron about the arrest of shadow immigration minister Damian Green during a police leak inquiry.

The mayor used the F-word 10 times, according to minutes of their conversation allegedly taken and later circulated to committee members. However, Johnson's aides said he had used the F-word no more than two or three times. They also stressed that the mayor had regarded the talks as private.

The minutes allegedly taken of the phone conversation the two of them had between 7.10pm and 7.25pm on February 4, were passed around to committee members. Some of the members were so stunned by the mayor's language and his attitude towards Vaz and the committee, that they wrote down some of the most colourful phrases.

Johnson was spitting with rage saying he was "so f***ing angry" that a member of the committee had gone on TV suggesting the Mayor would be recalled to give evidence a second time because of apparent discrepancies over when he talked to the Tory leader, according to the minutes.

Johnson allegedly stormed at Vaz: "I used to think that you were a straight guy. A man that you could do business with. This is f***ing ridiculous." This was disputed by Johnson aides.

Vaz is then believed to have challenged the mayor over how prepared he was for the committee hearing, last Monday during the snow chaos in London, but Johnson told him: "I f***ing warned you beforehand that I would not be very good on details."

His office said he could not give much detail because of other inquiries.