"I am afraid I said absolutely no such thing and as you know perfectly well I have been a long-standing supporter of immigration and what I said, very clearly, to that group of ambassadors — I think it was at a breakfast meeting — was that immigration had been a good thing for the UK in many respects but that it had got out of control and that we needed to take back control," Johnson told Sky News.
The UK authorities have repeatedly expressed reluctance to stick to EU key freedom of movement principle, stressing that the issue of border security would be a priority at the Brexit negotiations.
During the "Leave" campaign Johnson emphasized that some immigration was useful, though free movement of people posed a problem.
On June 23, the United Kingdom voted on referendum to leave the European Union. UK Prime Minister Theresa May said the country would trigger Article 50 by the end of March 2017, thus kick-starting withdrawal negotiations.