BBC defends Andrew Marr after viewers complain of ‘aggressive’ Boris Johnson interview

The BBC has defended Andrew Marr’s recent interview with Boris Johnson after viewers complained he was aggressive in his line of questioning.

The presenter sat down with the Prime Minister on Sunday, October 3, on his flagship BBC programme where he accused him of being untruthful over the growth of wages.

‘After more than 10 years of flatlining, what you’re seeing is people with low incomes being paid more,’ Mr Johnson argued.

However, Mr Marr fired back: ‘You’ve said something that isn’t true, I’m afraid. The Office of National Statistics (ONS), your own body, says that wages are not keeping pace with inflation. So, in real terms, over the last three months, wages have gone down, not up.’

Following the interview, culture secretary Nadine Dorries questioned Andrew’s impartiality on LBC.

Some viewers also agreed and blasted Mr Marr for interrupting the Prime Minister. ‘Andrew Marr is conducting a rotten interview with Johnson,’ scathed one. ‘I may not want to vote for him, but to talk over him all the time is awful.’

Boris Johnson was a guest on The Andrew Marr Show on October 3 (Picture: BBC)

‘Once again @AndrewMarr9 ruins an interview with @BorisJohnson by constantly jumping in and talking over him,’ added another.

‘Therefore failing to hold him to account and stopping his audience hearing what he is supposedly holding him to account about. Waste of time.’

The BBC, however, is satisfied that Mr Marr’s technique was ‘fair’ and professional.

‘There were many issues covered in the interview with the Prime Minister, such as violence against women, the HGV driver shortage and the National Insurance Tax rise, and so it was imperative for Mr Marr to keep the conversation on track in order to have time for them all,’ a BBC spokesperson said.

‘Sometimes Mr Marr repeated his question to press the Prime Minister into giving a clear answer for the audience.’

The BBC insisted Andrew Marr was impartial and fair (Picture: BBC)

The spokesperson added: ‘As Prime Minister, Mr Johnson is no stranger to robust and challenging interviews, and we consider it is appropriate to hold the leader of the nation to account on different issues.

‘However, we’re satisfied that Mr Marr questioned Mr Johnson in a fair, duly impartial and professional manner.’

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Ms Dorries stated her criticism of Mr Marr the following day when presenter Iain Dale said: ‘Andrew Marr would say “well, I am an impartial interviewer”.’

She retorted: ‘And I would argue otherwise.’

The Andrew Marr Show airs Sundays at 9am on BBC One.

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