‘Is that really something to be proud of?’ Emily Maitlis risks another BBC impartiality row after mocking Boris Johnson’s ‘pride’ as coronavirus death toll edges closer to 40,000 – before Newsnight bosses post clip on Twitter
- Newsnight yesterday opened with a clip of Boris Johnson addressing Commons
- Prime Minister tells MPs: ‘I am very proud of our record [in tackling coronavirus]’
- In a withering riposte, the presenter said: ‘When it comes to excess deaths, Britain’s currently a world leader. Is that really something to be proud of?’
- Comes days after she was found to have violated BBC’s impartiality guidelines
- Her monologue on Dominic Cummings sparked a backlash from some viewers
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
Emily Maitlis has launched another scathing attack on the government just days after she was found to have violated the BBC’s impartiality guidelines following her monologue on Dominic Cummings.
Newsnight yesterday opened with a clip of Boris Johnson telling MPs: ‘I take full responsibility for everything this government has been doing in tackling coronavirus and I am very proud of our record.’
In a withering riposte, the presenter said: ‘When it comes to excess deaths, Britain’s currently a world leader. Is that really something to be proud of?’
The clip was posted online by the BBC Newsnight Twitter account this morning.
The short clip shows the PM’s address to MPs in the Commons followed by Maitlis’s pithy response.
This comes after Maitlis made headlines following a controversy over comments made about Boris Johnson’s top aide, Dominic Cummings, on the programme last week.
In her introduction to last Tuesday’s show, Maitlis said Mr Cummings had ‘broken the rules’ when he travelled from London to Durham during lockdown and ‘the country can see that, and it’s shocked the Government cannot’.
The BBC said the monologue ‘did not meet our standards of due impartiality’.
Maitlis returned to Newsnight on Monday, but did not mention the row during a show focusing on the protests that have broken out across the US in response to the death of George Floyd.
Maitlis made headlines following a controversy over comments made about Boris Johnson’s top aide, Dominic Cummings, on the programme last week
Mr Floyd died after a white Minneapolis police officer held his knee on his neck for several minutes.
Following the controversy over Mr Cummings, Maitlis did not appear as scheduled on an episode of Newsnight, saying she asked for the evening off.
The presenter, widely lauded for her interview with the Duke of York last year, said she had been ‘overwhelmed’ by support from viewers after her monologue on Mr Cummings.
The 49-year-old broadcaster tweeted: ‘Been overwhelmed by all the kindness, messages – and support on here – and I’ve probably missed much of it.
‘A big thank you from us all at Newsnight.’