BORIS JOHNSON was lambasted today for saying that money spent on historic child sex abuse cases is “spaffed up the wall.”

The former foreign secretary prompted immediate criticism by Labour chairman Ian Lavery for his comments on an LBC radio chat show.

Mr Johnson, who could possibly succeed Theresa May as the next Tory leader, said that police time and resources were being wasted on historic cases of child sexual abuse.

“One comment I would make is [that] I think an awful lot of money and an awful lot of police time now goes into these historic offences and all this malarkey,” he said.

“You know, £60 million I saw being spaffed up the wall on some investigation into historic child abuse and all this kind of thing.

“What on Earth is that going to do to protect the public now?”

Mr Lavery said: “These disgusting comments are an insult to every survivor of child sex abuse.

“If Boris Johnson has even a little bit of decency, he will now apologise to the victims and families of those who have suffered.”

Mr Johnson’s comments come just days after Eliza Manningham-Buller, a former director general of MI5, claimed in a parliamentary inquiry that Margaret Thatcher stayed away from the 1995 funeral of Peter Morrison, a Conservative MP who was widely alleged to have abused children.

An anonymous testimony claimed that Ms Thatcher offered personal support to the MP, and that internal Cabinet notes said that his “penchant for little boys” was not a government concern.