Boris Johnson's Labour critic Chris Bryant admits he too was duped by Covid film that lied about the former PM never being close to death

• Chris Bryant said he would have 'dismissed' Johnson 'conspiracy theory'
• It comes after BBC's Gary Lineker also distanced himself from the film

A Labour MP last night distanced himself from a documentary which pushes a vile conspiracy theory that Boris Johnson lied about nearly dying from Covid.

Chris Bryant, an outspoken critic of Mr Johnson's, is set to appear in the programme and features in an online trailer for it.

But last night he claimed he had no idea it would make the baseless claim about Mr Johnson's health when he agreed to take part, and insisted he does not subscribe to the theory.

It came a day after the BBC's highest-paid presenter Gary Lineker, who also features in the trailer, demanded that his contribution be removed after being approached by The Mail on Sunday.

Mr Bryant said: 'I took part in an interview about lying in politics. We talked about whether there should be a new offence of lying to Parliament.

'But we never discussed this kind of conspiracy theory, which I would have immediately dismissed.'

When asked if he had been told the documentary would feature claims that Mr Johnson lied about the severity of his Covid in 2020, he said: 'That was never even mentioned to me. I don't subscribe to such a theory.'

Mr Bryant said he was under the impression the film was being made by Netflix, but it is not involved.

Instead, the film is being crowd-funded and made by arch-Remainer Marcus Ball, who once tried to prosecute Mr Johnson over Brexit.

Mr Johnson was taken to hospital with Covid in April 2020. He spent three days in intensive care and required 'litres and litres of oxygen' to stay alive.

Mr Ball started casting doubt on the legitimacy of his illness on April 14, 2020 – two days after he was released from hospital. He tweeted: 'The PR timing is just too perfect. I fear that he may be dodging responsibility by becoming a victim.'

The first trailer features celebrities including Lineker, who says 'the public deserve the truth'.

After being contacted by The Mail on Sunday, he refused to endorse the film.

The trailer was taken down from YouTube but can be viewed elsewhere online. Barbara Rich, a barrister who specialises in crowdfunding law, said Lineker should have known what he was getting himself into.

She said: 'Three minutes of Googling would have revealed what Marcus Ball is all about – his conspiracy theories, misuse of crowdfunded money and disastrous private prosecution of Boris Johnson.

'One has to take Lineker's denial at face value, but did he really not know about this theory or was he turning a blind eye?

'He has a history of stepping into things which are a hell of a long way from football commentary and using his likeable, centrist-dad persona to carry his political views far and wide.'

Mr Bryant refused to comment on whether he will ask for his interview to be removed from the film.

Lineker and Mr Ball failed to respond to requests for comment.