BBC admits it made ‘mistake’ by editing Boris Johnson footage to remove audience laughing at him

'Although there was absolutely no intention to mislead, we accept this was a mistake on our part,' spokesperson says

The BBC has admitted to making a "mistake" when it edited footage of Boris Johnson to remove the sound of an audience laughing at him.

During the Question Time special in which each of the main party leaders were questioned by the public, some of those watching in the studio could be heard laughing after the PM was asked whether he thought the "truth matters".

But in later video of the same event shown on BBC News, the laughter was removed. The edit gave rise to suggestions the video had been changed to make it less embarrassing to the Conservative leader.

While insisting it was not intended to mislead, the broadcaster has admitted the ommission was "a mistake on our part, as it didn't reflect the full reaction to Boris Johnson's answer".

"This clip from the BBC’s Question Time special, which was played in full on the News at Ten on Friday evening and on other outlets, was shortened for timing reasons on Saturday’s lunchtime bulletin, to edit out a repetitious phrase from Boris Johnson," a BBC statement said.

"However, in doing so we also edited out laughter from the audience.

"Although there was absolutely no intention to mislead, we accept this was a mistake on our part, as it didn’t reflect the full reaction to Boris Johnson’s answer. We did not alter the soundtrack or image in any way apart from this edit, contrary to some claims on social media.”

It comes after the BBC apologised for showing old footage of Mr Johnson at the Cenotaph during Remembrance Sunday events.

During a news bulletin, video of Mr Johnson laying a flower arrangement the wrong way up was edited out, and old footage was posted instead.

It blamed the change on a "production error" and apologised for the error.