This week Nigel Farage revealed that he had been left ‘worried’ about Boris Johnson’s ability to campaign for Brexit after his ‘slightly shambolic’ North London press conference. While the Ukip leader insists he has since come round to Johnson’s involvement, Mr S wonders what he will make of the Mayor of London’s turn on The Andrew Marr show.
Johnson appeared on the BBC show to put forward the case for leaving the EU. However, what followed was a tense exchange between Johnson and Marr as each tried to set the interview agenda. With Boris keen to speak about the single market and sovereignty, he clashed with Marr when the presenter attempted to change topic:
AM: Let’s move on to tipper trucks just for a second. We need to move on, we’ve got a lot to cover
BJ: Well, I’m going to tell you what I’m going to cover
AM: No, guess what? It’s not the Boris Johnson show, it’s the Andrew Marr show — I get to ask the questions.
BJ: Alright, you have sovereignty
AM: I have complete sovereignty over this programme
BJ: Unlike the UK
While one could argue that Marr’s tendency to interrupt Johnson during the interview was simply to stop the Mayor of London from rambling on, the Brexit camp see things differently. Angry Leave activists have accused Marr — and the BBC – of showing that they are biased against Brexit:
.@AndrewMarr9's impatience with @BorisJohnson this morning revealed his lack of interest in the arguments for leaving the EU. #brexit #marr
— James Holland (@James7Holland) March 6, 2016
Time to rename #marr "the liberal show" after his disgusting biased interview with Boris. Perhaps he's after a gong from Cameron. #corrupt
— John Hale (@JohnAHale) March 6, 2016
#marr almost turned it off, Marr was so bloody annoying constantly interrupting Boris, would help if he actually let him finish a sentence !
— Geoff Randall (@Geoff55R) March 6, 2016
Why wouldn't Andrew #Marr let Boris Johnson finish barely any of his points? Is it because the BBC can't help themselves but be pro-#EU?
— haymansafc 🌸 (@haymansafc) March 6, 2016
https://twitter.com/frank_fisher/status/706436138085556224
With Vote Leave claiming that Johnson was interrupted 57 times compared to Cameron being interrupted a mere 23 times when he last appeared on the show, Marr has taken to Twitter to defend himself. He says he only interrupted as it ‘felt like being a fly heckling a steamroller’.
To those saying I interrupted BJ too much… It felt like being a fly heckling a steamroller, or twig trying to intervene with a waterfall
— Andrew Marr (@AndrewMarr9) March 6, 2016
Somehow Mr S suspects this won’t be the last Marr hears on the incident.
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