Claim

Resigning over Theresa May’s Brexit deal, Johnson wrote to the prime minister: “we seem to have gone backwards since the last Chequers meeting in February, when I described my frustrations, as mayor of London, in trying to protect cyclists from juggernauts.

“We had wanted to lower the cabin windows to improve visibility; and even though such designs were already on the market, and even though there had been a horrific spate of deaths, mainly of female cyclists, we were told we had to wait for the EU to legislate on the matter.”

He added: “If a country cannot pass a law to save the lives of female cyclists — when that proposal is supported at every level of UK Government — then I don’t see how that country can truly be called independent.”

He had made the claim previously, at least twice in March 2016.

Facts

Channel 4’s FactCheck pointed out that this was false. The proposals he was talking about had been passed. The UK government had opposed them. Johnson had known this. He had said at the time in 2014: “I am deeply concerned at the position of the British Government and urge them to embrace this vital issue.”

Verdict

Johnson lied in his resignation letter.