TV host Philip Schofield has defended his grinning selfie with Boris Johnson today – after he faced a backlash from viewers.
Mr Johnson was quizzed by Schofield and Holly Willoughby on ITV’s This Morning today – as he continues to duck a grilling from BBC rotweiller Andrew Neil.
Every other party leader has agreed to a half-hour interview with the broadcaster – but the Tory leader has so far refused to do so after sticking with “softer” interviewers.
Viewers claimed Schofield had gone easier on the PM than Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who appeared on This Morning two days earlier.
During that interview, Schofield had angrily pressed Mr Corbyn to apologise for antisemitism under his watch – and did not pose for a selfie with the Labour leader.
Addressing that on Twitter, the TV host remarked: “Can I point out that if Mr Corbyn had asked for a selfie, we would have happily obliged.”
In today’s interview, viewers complained that Schofield also failed to demand apologies from Mr Johnson for his many previous controversial comments on issues such as Islamophobia.
They were also irritated by his final question where he asked the PM to “promise” to get Brexit done by the end of January, which gave him the chance to trot out his favourite line once more.
Elsewhere in the interview the PM insisted the NHS will not be sold off and compared Mr Corbyn’s claims to crazy UFO conspiracy theories.
He said: “There are photographs which purport to prove that there are UFOs. But it’s nonsense. Rock solid guarantee.”
Mr Johnson also claimed the reason Brits have so little trust in politicians was because of the failure to deliver Brexit.
The Prime Minister said: “I think there is a big trust issue with the whole of politics at the moment.
“I think that is basically because after three-and-a-half years we havent got done what we told the people we would do in 2016.”
He pointed to his record as mayor of London as evidence that voters could “trust” him to deliver in Downing Street.
Mr Johnson used a Huawei phone to take the selfie on This Morning’s set just a day after suggesting he would ban the Chinese firm.
The PM used the telecom giant’s P20 Pro smartphone to snap himself with the ITV presenters after his sofa interview.
Tweeting the photo, Boris said: “Thank you to Phillip and Holly at @ThisMorning – a good opportunity to talk more about our exciting vision for the country #GetBrexitDone”.
Just 24 hours earlier, Mr Johnson had warned intelligence fears prompt his Government to refuse to allow Huawei to build Britain’s new 5G network.
Speaking at the NATO summit on Wednesday, the Tory leader named “our ability to co-operate with our Five-Eyes security partners” as the key consideration in the decision on the contract, which is expected in January.
US President Donald Trump is urging the PM to ban state-sponsored Huawei from the job over fears Beijing will hack its network.
The PM’s aides insisted the phone belonged to a Tory HQ staffer not Boris or any Downing Street staff.
