MPS furious after BBC’S Nick Robinson tells Prime Minister to ‘stop talking’
THE BBC was embroiled in a fresh row with Tory MPS last night after Nick Robinson told Boris Johnson to “stop talking” during his first Today programme interview in two years.
The Prime Minister and the veteran broadcaster repeatedly interrupted one another yesterday as they debated Britain’s labour and lorry shortages.
It came as BBC presenters took to social media to hit back at Nadine Dorries, the Culture Secretary, who in her first major appearance in the role suggested it was filled with staff whose “mum and dad worked there”.
Appearing on the flagship Radio 4 programme at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, Mr Johnson was cut off as he sought to play down the shortages as part of a post-brexit transition, with Robinson stating: “You’ve made that point at length in a series of interviews up to this point.”
As the Prime Minister continued to talk over him, Robinson added: “Prime Minister, you are going to pause – Prime Minister, stop talking. We are going to have questions and answers, not where you merely talk, if you wouldn’t mind.”
Riled by the intervention, Mr Johnson remarked on ending the interview: “Very kind of you to let me talk. I thought that was the point of you inviting
‘We are going to have questions and answers, not where you merely talk, if you wouldn’t mind’
me on your show.”
Speaking later in the programme, Mr Robinson said: “For those listeners who may have been slightly offended by me telling the Prime Minister to stop talking… the truth is he’s a great communicator [but] he’s not a man who loves the cut and thrust of question and answer, always.”
Oliver Dowden, the former culture secretary and new Tory chairman, said: the Prime Minister had a right to answer the question put to him.
“I think sometimes politicians do have the right to finish a sentence when they’re answering a question. As a general point I can understand the Prime Minister’s frustration at not being able to finish a sentence.”
Echoing his comments, Sir John Redwood, a former Cabinet minister, said: “BBC interviewers should allow an answer and pretend to be interested in the person they are interviewing.”
The Daily Telegraph understands that the controversy was also discussed by senior BBC figures yesterday, although a spokesman for the Corporation said they were unaware of any conversations taking place.
“People understand that political interviews have some cut and thrust about them, that’s the nature of a political interview.
“The Prime Minister had plenty of opportunities to make his point,” a source added.