BBC forced to CANCEL Boris Johnson interview after Laura Kuenssberg’s last-minute blunder
Laura Kuenssberg interviewing Boris Johnson in October 2019 (Image: BBC)
BBC political news heavyweight Laura Kuenssberg has had to pull the plug on a much-anticipated TV interview with former Prime Minister Boris Johnson after she made an embarrassing mistake.
Initially scheduled for tomorrow, the interview with the ex-PM had been eagerly awaited but will now be shelved. This evening, Kuenssberg disclosed the cause of the cancellation – she had inadvertently sent Mr Johnson briefing notes that were meant for her own team, leading to frustration and disappointment on her part.
The ex-BBC political editor expressed her regret on Twitter: “While prepping to interview Boris Johnson tomorrow, by mistake I sent our briefing notes to him in a message meant for my team. That obviously means it’s not right for the interview to go ahead.
“It’s very frustrating, and there’s no point pretending it’s anything other than embarrassing and disappointing, as there are plenty of important questions to be asked. But red faces aside, honesty is the best policy. See you on Sunday.”
LONDON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 22: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson during a televised press conference at 10 Downing Street on February 22, 2021 in London, England. The prime minister announced a phased exit from the country’s current lockdown measures, imposed before Christmas to curb a surge in covid-19 cases. (Photo by Leon Neal – WPA Pool/Getty Images) (Image: Getty Images)
Johnson’s interview was poised to be his first significant discussion of his Premiership since he resigned, where he was set to be interrogated about various contentious issues such as Partygate, his management of Covid, and the Chris Pincher debacle.
Boris Johnson, who stepped down from Parliament just before a damning standards committee report found he had misled the Commons over No10 parties, was set to face tough questions in the interview. The ex-Prime Minister insists his removal from office was unjust and is poised to air his grievances in his forthcoming memoir ‘Unleashed’, hitting shelves this month.
Almost a year has passed since the announcement that Johnson would join GB News as a presenter, yet his programme remains unseen. Laura Kuenssberg has been busy with a Panorama special titled ‘Partygate: Inside the Storm’ and a revealing three-part series on the Tory government called ‘State of Chaos’.
She has interviewed pivotal players from Johnson’s tenure, exposing the turmoil of his leadership.
Meanwhile, a new memoir by Sir Graham Brady, the former chair of the influential 1922 Committee, alleges that Johnson labelled Conservative backbenchers “spineless chicken s***” over their criticism of his one-time aide Dominic Cummings. The partnership between Johnson and Cummings spectacularly disintegrated during the pandemic, with Cummings comparing his former boss to an erratic shopping trolley.
Sir Graham revealed that, amidst the storm surrounding Mr Cummings’ controversial trip to Barnard Castle during lockdown restrictions, the then-Prime Minister unleashed a scathing outburst. Allegedly, Mr Johnson raged: “I think backbench MPs have been contemptible! They have been spineless chicken s***. They need to develop some backbone.”
Moreover, a book alleges Mr Johnson berated the “stupid f***ing two-metre rule” and lambasted the “f***ing scientists”.
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Number of Tory members wanting merger with Farage’s Reform revealed in bombshell poll
More than half (53 percent) of Conservative members want the party to merge with Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, according to a new poll.
The poll, which surveyed 470 Tory members between 23-27 September for Liz Truss’ right-wing Popular Conservatism (PopCon) group, also found that seven in 10 members want a closer relationship with Reform.
Nigel Farage has dismissed the idea of a merger between Reform and the Conservative Party (Image: Getty)
It comes as the Conservative Party conference comes to an end. All four candidates for party leader had 20 minutes on stage today to sell their vision to members.
The issue of Mr Farage’s surging party has divided the candidates. Kemi Badenoch said she was prepared to work with Reform in Parliament but ruled out an electoral pact. Meanwhile, Conservative leadership hopeful Tom Tugendhat has warned against his party becoming Reform UK.
All four candidates for party leader had 20 minutes on stage today to sell their vision to members (Image: Getty)
Annunziata Rees-Mogg, PopCon’s head of communications, remarked on the shock survey, saying: “Every Conservative activist and canvasser knows people who had been Tories, but voted Reform UK in July.
“It is no surprise our panellists understand that the next leader of the party needs to take action to bring many like-minded voters back to the Tories. Almost three-quarters want a relationship with Reform in order to unite the right.”
This comes as Ms Rees-Mogg’s brother Sir Jacob, a former Conservative cabinet minister , called for the Tories to strike an electoral pact with the smaller party.
Sir Jacob called for his party to make a “big and generous offer” in a bid to unite the parties against Labour.
Speaking on the fringes of the conference, he suggested the Tories should stand aside in nearly 100 seats where Reform came second to Labour at the last election. Reform UK won five seats and 4 million votes at the last general election.
Sir Jacob said he would encourage the next leader of the Conservatives to “start having the occasional dinner with Nigel” to “build a personal relationship” and “some element of trust”, so they could “look to do something at the general election”.
Pollster Sir John Curtice, also at the conference, admitted that the Tories “cannot now afford to ignore the smaller parties”.
However, Nigel Farage has already dismissed the idea of a merger, saying that Reform is “here to stay”.
Jacob Rees-Mogg called on the next Conservative leader to make a ‘generous’ offer to Reform (Image: Getty)
The MP for Clacton said: “Reform is here to stay. The Tories had their chance and they blew it.
“All talk of whether a future deal between me and the Conservatives can be done is irrelevant. It is not even on my agenda, I simply don’t trust them.
“There is a misunderstanding about the new centre-right in the Western world.
“Whether it’s Donald Trump’s takeover of the Republican Party in America or the Freedom Party’s performance in Austria, the old centrist, conservative, stuffy approach to politics no longer inspires.”
