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Boris Johnson is known for his quips and humour, his larks and his jest.
And this time, the subjects of his mild amusement were those concerned by Britain’s rising population.
The Mayor of London said that people worried about increasing numbers of immigrants supposedly heading for the UK (or, as Nigel Farage attempted to envisage last week, clogging up the M4) were prejudiced.
So much so, he joked, they were just the sorts of people who would support “forced sterilisation or a one-baby policy”.
“How would people feel if the population pressure was caused entirely by white, Anglo-Saxon protestant babies?” he questioned, in response to one call to BBC London today from a listener asking about the mounting pressures on ambulances and other public services.
Boris Johnson's defining momentsShow all 32 1 /32Boris Johnson's defining moments Boris Johnson's defining moments 2016 Boris Johnson swings from a bus as Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers (left), Northern First Minister and DUP leader Arlene Foster and Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Investment Jonathan Bell (second right) look on during a visit to Wrightbus Chassis plant in Antrim
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Boris Johnson's defining moments 2015 Boris Johnson takes down 10-year-old Toki Sekiguchi during a game of Street Rugby with a group of Tokyo children
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Boris Johnson's defining moments 2015 Boris Johnson planting flowers at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew
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Boris Johnson's defining moments 2015 A commuter gesturing to Boris Johnson as he cycles across Vauxhall Bridge
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Boris Johnson's defining moments 2014 Mayor of London Boris Johnson boxes with a trainer during his visit to Fight for Peace Academy in North Woolwich
Boris Johnson's defining moments 2014 The Mayor of London Boris Johnson wears a traditional headdress during a visit to the Shree Swaminarayan Mandir, a major new Hindu temple being built in Kingsbury in London
Boris Johnson's defining moments 2014 Many Conservative Party members gagging to have Boris Johnson as their MP
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Boris Johnson's defining moments 2014 Boris Johnson prepares to deliver a speech in Bloomberg's European headquarters on Britain's involvement in the EU. Mr Johnson also announced his intention to become an MP again at the 2015 general election, whilst serving out the remainder of his term as mayor.
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Boris Johnson's defining moments 2014 The Mayor of London Boris Johnson during a speech and Q&A session at Bloomberg, London, where he has said that 'in all probability' he will seek to stand for Parliament in next year's general election.
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Boris Johnson's defining moments 2014 London mayor Boris Johnson helps shear a sheep held by New Zealand's most successful competition sheep shearer, David Fagan (L) on a visit to Lister Shearing Equipment in Stonehouse
Boris Johnson's defining moments 2013 Mayor of London Boris Johnson takes a helicopter ride over Hong Kong as part of week long visit to China to promote trade between the far east and London
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Boris Johnson's defining moments 2013 Boris Johnson explains why he's such a hit with female voters
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Boris Johnson's defining moments 2013 Boris Johnson celebrates after a wildly successful interview with Eddie Mair
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Boris Johnson's defining moments 2013 Mayor of London Boris Johnson sits in the operator's cab of a crane on the quay at DP World London Gateway Port in Stanford-le-Hope
Boris Johnson's defining moments 2013 Boris Johnson shoots a basketball
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Boris Johnson's defining moments 2013 The Mayor of London make a strong pose in what appears to be a particularly bad tourism advert for Asia
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Boris Johnson's defining moments 2013 Boris Johnson meets saltwater crocodile George, which was named after the royal baby
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Boris Johnson's defining moments 2013 Perhaps the only person ever who has ridden on the Emirates Air Line
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Boris Johnson's defining moments 2012 Boris Johnson's encounter with a zip wire only served to prove how adept the London Mayor is at defying political gravity in 2012
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Boris Johnson's defining moments 2012 Boris Johnson playing tennis
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Boris Johnson's defining moments 2012 Aside from his mayoral duties, London Mayor, Boris Johnson, is looking displeased at his seven appearances
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Boris Johnson's defining moments 2012 Boris goes for a bounce in one of favourite places... (the Olympic village obviousy)
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Boris Johnson's defining moments 2011 London Mayor Boris Johnson on the streets of Clapham
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Boris Johnson's defining moments 2011 Like a raging bull, Boris Johnson challenges a statue to a duel
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Boris Johnson's defining moments 2010 Boris Johnson embraces a member of the public in Ealing, west London, who seems to have taken a shine to him
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Boris Johnson's defining moments 2009 Frothy top? Boris Johnson visits Starbucks in Mayfair
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Boris Johnson's defining moments 2009 Johnson tries on one of his favourite pink and sparkly hats
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Boris Johnson's defining moments 2008 Johnson smiles smugly as he thinks of his fine mop of hair, worthy of a L'Oreal advert
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Boris Johnson's defining moments 2008 Boris Johnson tries his hand at policing the capital - primarily by wearing a new hat
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Boris Johnson's defining moments 2008 The hippie world welcomes a new member to the fold in Boris Johnson
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Boris Johnson's defining moments 2004 Boris Johnson jogs on the streets of London
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Boris Johnson's defining moments 1980's Boris as a young'un. He was fired from his first job as a trainee reporter at The Times for making up a quote about the Plantagenet King Edward the II and his gay lover
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Johnson added that immigration was healthy for a growing economy, and said that while he understood why some citizens harbour certain views, that reducing the number of overseas workers was not necessary.
Russia, he highlighted as an example, boasts a “stable population” but is, according to him, “a chaotic and nasty place to be”.
However, he went on to admit that a state “should be able to control its frontiers”.
“I am perfectly prepared to accept that we need proper controls at our borders, and we haven’t had those controls,” he said.
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