BORIS Johnson will be interviewed on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show today – despite still not agreeing to a grilling from the broadcaster’s veteran Andrew Neil.
The BBC’s decision to schedule the interview with Marr when the Prime Minister has still not committed to sitting down with Neil – who Nicola Sturgeon and Jeremy Corbyn faced last week – has been attacked as “shameful”.
The SNP said it would be a “democratic outrage” if Johnson did not face the same level of scrutiny as other parties.
It had been reported that the BBC had told Johnson he would not be allowed to face Marr unless he also agreed to be interviewed by Neil.
But yesterday in a statement, the BBC defended its “abject surrender” by saying: “As the national public service broadcaster, the BBC’s first priority must be its audience.
“In the wake of a major terrorist incident, we believe it is now in the public interest that the Prime Minister should be interviewed on our flagship Sunday political programme. All parties’ election policy proposals must – and will – face detailed scrutiny from us and we continue to urge Boris Johnson to take part in the prime-time Andrew Neil interview as other leaders have done.”
In response, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford, said: “Given his party’s record in government, and his completely undemocratic treatment of the people of Scotland – it’s no wonder that Boris Johnson is running scared of debate.
“The BBC interviews must both go ahead – it would be a democratic outrage if the Tories refused to face the same level of scrutiny expected of all parties.”
Labour candidates accused the BBC of surrendering to the Prime Minister by allowing him to be interviewed by Marr without agreeing to an interview with Neil.
Ben Bradshaw, a former Labour culture secretary and candidate in Exeter, tweeted: “This is a shameful & abject surrender by the BBC management, which will leave professional BBC journalists absolutely horrified and in despair with an organisation where morale is already at rock bottom.”
Johnson has repeatedly refused to commit to an interview with Neil, despite other party leaders agreeing to be quizzed.
Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson will face him on Wednesday.
But the Prime Minister did find time yesterday to issue a St Andrew’s Day video message to Scotland, which was posted on Twitter.
In his former life as editor of The Spectator, Johnson published a poem which referred to Scots as a “verminous race”.
But ahead of the election, he was keen to talk of St Andrew’s Day being “an occasion for us, of course, all to meditate on the vast contribution that Scotland and the Scottish people make to our country, to the world”.
He added: “What I want, of course, is for Scottish people, the people of Scotland, to be intensely proud of their Scottish identity and the Saltire of St Andrew but also, to be proud of the incredible contribution that Scotland makes to ... the UK.”
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