BBC accuses Boris Johnson of misleading public when he says we can spend £350m more per week on the NHS after Brexit

THE BBC today accused Boris Johnson of spreading false information after he pledged to spend an extra £350million a week on the NHS.

The Foreign Secretary says that after Brexit, the Government will be free to ramp up spending on hospitals, doctors and nurses.

But the state broadcaster published a piece online attacking his claim and saying there will in fact be much less cash available.

The £350million figure was at the centre of the Vote Leave campaign during the EU referendum.

Brexit supporters said leaving the bloc would allow Britain to take control of taxpayers’ money and spend it on other priorities - but their opponents insisted the amount of cash saved would be much less.

In his in-depth manifesto for Brexit published on Friday night, Boris repeated the £350million claim as he urged the Government to make the most of our EU departure.

Last night the BBC attempted to debunk the stat as part of its Reality Check feature.

In a tweet directed at Mr Johnson, the broadcaster said: “We've said it before... The UK did not (and still doesn't) send £350m/week to the EU.”

An online article developed the claim, saying that Boris failed to take into account the rebate Britain gets on our contribution to Brussels, negotiated by Margaret Thatcher.

In 2015 we were supposed to pay £361million per week to the EU but because of the rebate, we actually sent £276million every week, the BBC said.

The article also said that Boris was ignoring the fact that we also get funding from Brussels for programmes such as farm subsidies.

If the Government spent our whole EU contribution on the NHS, we would have to cut payments to farmers and community projects, according to the BBC.

Mr Johnson has come under fire for his apparent power grab in publishing a long article which sets out his vision for Brexit - days before Theresa May makes a major speech in Florence.