An explosive Sophy Ridge just shamed the BBC and Marr

Downing Street Sophy Ridge Andrew Marr and Laura Kuenssberg


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You know things are bad in the UK media when a journalist from a Rupert Murdoch-created news outlet puts the BBC to shame. But that’s exactly what happened on Sunday 2 May.

Rumbling on

The story of Boris Johnson’s flat has been rumbling on. As The Canary previously reported, the Electoral Commission is investigating Johnson’s Downing Street refurb. During Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs), the PM repeatedly claimed that he ultimately paid for the flat refurb. But Johnson wouldn’t say who stumped up the cash in the first place. The Canary also reported that Johnson said of the probe:

We will comply with whatever they want, and I don’t think there is anything to see here, or worry about.

Yes. The PM literally said there’s ‘nothing to see here’. Move along, now. But the press pack can smell blood. So, on 2 May, the issue of Johnson’s dodgy refurb was heavily in the media. But the coverage wasn’t all the same. Because Sky host Sophy Ridge did what the BBC failed to do.

Ridge roasting Raab

Sophy Ridge on Sunday set the bar high. Well, high for the corporate press, anyway. She was probing foreign secretary Dominic Raab about ‘flat gate’. Ridge couldn’t help but laugh at one point. Raab was deflecting her question about who signs off on any investigation into whether Johnson broke the ministerial code over his flat. The answer is, of course, Johnson himself.

But Raab didn’t want to admit that. Hence Ridge’s amusement:

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Ridge cut through Raab’s BS perfectly. After he once again tried to dodge her questions, he said:

I think the prime minister’s been very clear

Ridge probably spoke on behalf of much of the UK when she said:

Oh right. The prime minister’s been very clear. I must have missed this. Because I believe the key question is who initially paid for the refurbishment of the flat. Has he been clear in answering that?

And of course Johnson hasn’t:

So, did Raab get such a pasting on the Andrew Marr Show? Not likely.

Marr misses the mark

The host spent around one minute asking Raab about the issue. Marr posed two questions:

  • Does Raab think Johnson should resign if the Electoral Commission says Johnson’s broken the law?
  • Does Raab have “complete faith in the Electoral Commission”?

Raab failed to give coherent answers to either. And that was that. He probably breathed a sigh of relief, because Marr basically let him off the hook. Much like his colleague Laura Kuenssberg did with an article about Johnson and the “truth”. It didn’t go down well on social media:

Another Twitter user criticised Kuenssberg for not giving “any examples” of Johnson’s repeated and provable lying:

Campaigning lawyer Peter Stefanovic had something to say about that:

But of course, there’s a broader point to be made about the media pile-on over Johnson’s wallpaper.

Keeping the palette clean

Who paid for his refurb costs is really the least of the PM’s crimes. As Sarah tweeted:

Indeed. It seems that the corporate media would prefer to go after dodgy wallpaper than Johnson allegedly saying:

no more fucking lockdowns – let the bodies pile high in their thousands

Because dodgy financial agreements over paint and soft furnishings are far more palatable than a PM who’d happily see his own citizens dead. And no amount of forthright journalism from Ridge, or limp questions from Marr, should detract from this.

Featured image via RachelH – Wikimedia, Sky News – YouTube, BBC iPlayer and BBC News – YouTube

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  • Show Comments

    1. An explosive Sophy Ridge just shamed the BBC and Marr
      FIRSTLY-SKY + B.B.C. news presenters.
      Stop your bickering over who did this who did not do this I personally believe all news channel do not ask the right question of Govt parties’ members any more it’s like they have a Govt whips scripted interview with all Govt party members now.
      //
      LOOK residents + voter of U.K. Wales-N-Ireland Scotland.
      The only way to put a STOP to this C**p is for Boris to tell the truth
      Plus show us public his receipts for the work done full price information
      And which firms did the work (wallpaper+ paints plus supplied furniture)
      //
      As using our public money (taxpayers) if he has done so? for his personal use is not on also it’s against the laws + rules of parliamentary members, I will also inform all Boris’s Minister you are fully responsible for backing him up on this matter the voters will judge you all next G.E. not just Boris.
      //
      The following chose is Boris’s alone answer the question truthfully on this matter on live T.V. or outside No,10 front door please.
      Questions!!
      Q-1 Did us taxpayer pay for any of the refit bill yes or no??
      Q-2-Did you break any ministerial code over the flat refit yes or no??
      Q-3-Did you inform Tory treasury if party funders paid for the work that live outside of the U.K. yes or no??
      Q-4-Did you ever seek Minister advice from treasury Dept or your legal Dept before having any of the work done Boris yes or no??
      //
      I have place only 4 Question here I personal wish you to answer now please truthfully for me as a voter +Taxpayer they are more that need answers too Boris.
      (I wish the 4 Question here answered before May election time)
      As it will affect the way I vote plus other voters -vote Boris for Tory Cllr
      in May local area election in U.K. -Wales-N-Ireland -Scotland areas as well.

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    2. This Raab is just one of the Tory muppets who have their daily scripts inserted into their anuses so they can jolly off to spew their faecal drivel to all & sundry. This one is likely to spell covid with a k.
      Until the populace wake up (unlikely but we can hope) & vote the Party of Death out of office, we are stuck with these war-mongers & doomed to a horrible future for us all, & especially the young.

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    3. But the real scandal of UK politics isn’t Johnson’s wallpaper. The reason the media are so willing to focus on it is because it’s a petty spat that means nothing. The real scandal is what’s happening in the Labour Party: firstly, its elected leader was brought low partly by the intervention of a foreign power (see Asa Winstanley’s excellent video on The Electronic Intifada); secondly, thousands of members have been expelled or suspended on specious grounds and without the party following its own rules; thirdly, the Information Commissioner’s Office has declared that Labour is breaching the law, but it won’t intervene because there are so many instances (if you’re going to flout the law, do it on a major scale); fourthly the leader of Labour has described himself as an unapologetic Zionist, that is, a supporter of a doctrine of messianic entitlement based on blood ties – straightforward racism. There’s the real scandal. Now, go to the media and look for the reporting. Apart from Winstanley you’ll find virtually nothing. The fuss about the PM’s flat is proof, not of the vibrancy of the media, but of their slavish adherence to the needs of the rich. They look democratic and open by attacking Johnson, but in fact they know if he falls, Sunak takes over. Now there is no socialism in Labour, they need no fear Starmer either. That’s the real scandal and the silence is monumental.

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