Boris Johnson has launched a tirade at Gordon Brown in the Commons, accusing him of "misleading" MPs over his views on funding for the police.

The Tory mayoral candidate for London unleashed a ferocious attack on the Prime Minister for claiming that Mr Johnson wants to cut spending.

At the end of Prime Minister's Questions, he said: "I'm sure that the Prime Minister inadvertently misled the House when he said I wanted to cut spending on the Metropolitan Police... since that is exactly the opposite of the case."

He demanded that Mr Brown be called back to Parliament to correct his comments, stressing that his blueprint for policing in the capital would cut violent crime and restore order on the streets, buses and trains.

Amid loud jeering, Commons Speaker Michael Martin said: "The Honourable Gentleman has put the record straight and very swiftly at that."

Mr Brown was quoting from a Standard story last September, which reported Mr Johnson's comments at a Tory mayoral hustings meeting.

Mr Johnson had told the hustings: "We have got to be absolutely clear where the scope for real economies is and the real big ticket for spending is the Met police and TfL. That's where the real savings, believe me, are to be found."

The issue was raised today by Labour MP Andrew Dismore and Mr Brown replied that the mayoral contest was a choice between more police in London under Ken Livingstone and reduced spending under Mr Johnson.

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