Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has recsined claims made during Wednesday’s PMQs, that prime minister Boris Johnson had “accused the BBC of not being critical enough of Putin”.

The Telegraph newspaper had alleged that comments to this effect has been made at Tuesday’s private meeting between the PM and his backbench MPs.

Sir Keir said the prime minister has nown “corrected the record” and that the comments “only referred to the Archbishop [of Canterbury”. “So, I am more than happy to echo that correction and withdraw my comment of yesterday,” he went on.

The education secretary suggested the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer may have misled MPs yesterday.

Johnson claimed he had said “nothing of the kind”.

Nadhim Zahawi told Sky News earlier today: “If you just want to play politics with this as Keir Starmer sort of found out yesterday because he probably inadvertently misled Parliament because he got overexcited and…”

“Because he accused the prime minister of something that he clearly had no evidence of.

“He accused the prime minister of attacking the BBC for their coverage in Ukraine. The prime minister did not do that and by accusing him at the despatch box, mistakenly, he should come and apologise and withdraw.”

Conservative party chair Oliver Dowden has urged Starmer to officially backtrack on the remarks.