Maitlis: ‘It was my decision not to present Newsnight’ over Cummings storm

NEWSNIGHT host Emily Maitlis said she has been “overwhelmed” by support from viewers as she revealed it was her decision not to appear on the show which aired after the Dominic Cummings monologue row.

The BBC ruled that the presenter’s comments on Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s chief adviser breached impartiality rules.

The 49-year-old broadcaster tweeted: “Been overwhelmed by all the kindness, messages – and support on here – and I’ve probably missed much of it.

“A big thank you from us all at Newsnight.”

Her absence the night after the monologue sparked suggestions that she had been replaced on the flagship BBC Two show, but Maitlis said she had asked for the evening off.

Meanwhile, broadcasting watchdog Ofcom said it received 247 complaints following the remarks on the programme.

Maitlis tweeted: “So grateful to my friend and excellent colleague Katie Razzall for stepping in...

“She did so because I asked for the night off – knowing tonight’s programme would be in the most excellent hands.”

Razzall also tweeted: “Just for the record, Emily Maitlis has not been asked by the BBC to take tonight off – and if I thought she had been, I certainly wouldn’t have agreed to present the show.”

In her introduction to Tuesday’s show, Maitlis said Mr Cummings had “broken the rules” and “the country can see that, and it’s shocked the Government cannot”.

She said: “The longer ministers and the Prime Minister tell us he worked within (the rules), the more angry the response to this scandal is likely to be.”

The “public mood” is “one of fury, contempt and anguish”, she said.

Following controversy over the monologue, the BBC issued a swift response.

It said staff had been “reminded of the guidelines” around impartiality, adding that the corporation must “uphold the highest standards of due impartiality in its news output”.

The programme “should have done more to make clear the introduction was a summary of the questions we would examine, with all the accompanying evidence, in the rest of the programme.

“As it was, we believe the introduction we broadcast did not meet our standards of due impartiality,” the BBC said.

Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan branded the BBC statement “utterly disgraceful”, saying the corporation was “chucking one of its best journalists under the bus for telling the truth”.

National Union of Journalists general secretary Michelle Stanistreet said: “At a time of national crisis, frank and fearless journalism that holds this Government to account is more necessary than ever. Journalists should be congratulated for holding policymakers to account for actions that risk a monumental breach of trust during a public health crisis.”