DARLINGTON, ENGLAND (REUTERS) - Boris Johnson, the front runner to replace Theresa May as Britain's prime minister, said on Friday (July 5) it was not true that secret intelligence was withheld from him when he was foreign minister.

The BBC had earlier reported that May's office had attempted to stop him seeing some intelligence, partly because of concerns over his lack of discipline, prompting a spat with Johnson who had responsibility for the foreign spy agency MI6 and the GCHQ eavesdropping agency in his role.

"It's not true and I don't comment on intelligence matters," Johnson told an event in Darlington, northern England. "The story... is not true."