PRESSURE is continuing to be piled on Boris Johnson to submit to an interview by the BBC’s Andrew Neil but the chances looked very slim after a senior Tory source insisted voters were fed up with TV interviews being “all about the interviewer”.
Mr Neil, renowned for his forensic questioning, made an on-air plea to the Prime Minister after completing an interview with Nigel Farage, the Brexit Party leader, on Thursday night; he has already quizzed Jeremy Corbyn and Jo Swinson.
In a direct challenge to Mr Johnson, the Scot said: “There is no law, no Supreme Court ruling, that can force Mr Johnson to participate in a BBC leaders' interview. But the Prime Minister of our nation will, at times, have to stand up to President Trump, President Putin, President Xi of China. So, it was surely not expecting too much that he spend half an hour standing up to me."
The PM has also declined to be interviewed by ITV’s Julie Etchingham, who interviewed Mr Corbyn last night.
However, this morning a senior Conservative source gave little hope the PM would comply with Mr Neil’s request, saying: “The public are fed up with interviews that are all about the interviewer and endless interruptions. The format is broken and needs to change if it is to start engaging and informing the public again.
"The PM will focus on talking to voters about people's priorities including investing in our NHS and helping with the cost of living," he added.
But Labour’s David Lammy hit back, tweeting: “The public is not fed up of interviews. It's fed up of being lied to. Boris Johnson ducking out of the leaders' interviews is truly pathetic. He is breaking the public's trust yet again.”
On the stump in Kent, Mr Johnson was pressed on why he was avoiding an interview with Mr Neil and replied: "As I say, I think most people would say, I'm the only prime minister to have done not one, but by tonight two head-to-head debates.
"I've done 118 sitdown interviews with journalists, I've fielded innumerable questions...we cannot accommodate everybody.
"There's a guy called Lord Buckethead who wants to have a head-to-head debate with me. Unfortunately I'm not able to fit him in. You know, we can't do absolutely everything," he added.
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