Boris Johnson asked to 'stop talking' by Nick Robinson

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Tory MP John Redwood took to Twitter to denounce Mr Robinson’s interview style when interrogating Mr Johnson on Radio 4. He said: “When the PM had a good answer to a question the BBC Today programme tried to stop him, asking a different question.

“BBC interviewers should allow an answer and pretend to be interested in the person they are interviewing. They seem to want to impose their view instead.”

Nick Robinson is a veteran political correspondent and editor, having occupied prominent positions at the BBC for decades.

He introduced Mr Johnson’s appearance on the Today Programme as “the first time he’s agreed to talk to us in two years” as the two spoke live at approximately 08:10am on Tuesday.

The tone began light, with Mr Johnson joking: “Has it really been two years? Time has flown.”

However, Mr Robinson soon interjected over Mr Johnson’s explanations of the hiccups in the supply chains to the UK to assert: “Let me tell you what the stresses and strains might be,” referencing a term Mr Johnson used in his previous answer.

Mr Robinson went on to quote to Mr Johnson the opinion of Lord Wolfson, CEO of clothing retailer Next, who had been a staunch Brexit advocate.

Mr Robinson described how Lord Wolfson “said it is possible that if the country gets this wrong, there could be a shortage of goods, there could be a lack of carers – there could be, in his words, a Seventies-style inflationary crisis, an inflationary spiral”.

He put to Mr Johnson: “That is the reason for Government, for a Prime Minister, to worry, to take it seriously.”

Mr Johnson responded to this by informing Mr Robinson that he had read what Lord Wolfson had written, and that this was an “extremely interesting moment”.

He spoke frankly to Mr Robinson that “the issue which is often raised is immigration, and how you deal with the shortages of labour.”

When Mr Johnson was explaining that he supports workers with valuable skills coming into the UK, Mr Robinson interrupted to again quote Lord Wolfson’s views on businesses deciding who to hire, rather than Government.

During Mr Johnson’s response, however, Mr Robinson stopped him again, to which the Prime Minister replied: “Hang on, I haven’t had a chance to make this point on your show for two years, by your own account!”

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Mr Robinson quickly fired back: “That was your choice, not ours.”

They then continued to discuss how Lord Wolfson’s statement can be interpreted in different ways, with the conversation becoming more and more heated.

After another few seconds of Mr Johnson describing his view of the haulage crisis, Mr Robinson cut him off, saying: “Prime Minister, stop talking.”

In Mr Johnson’s later response to a question on corporation tax, he rather sardonically quipped that he wanted to “get back to the point I was trying to make before you asked me to stop talking – an injunction which you seem to have revoked”.

The remainder of the interview followed a similar pattern of quick-fire verbal exchange, with Mr Johnson sarcastically commenting at the end: “Very kind of you to let me talk!”

This follows criticism of the BBC raised at the ongoing Conservative Party conference, which is taking place this week in Manchester.

New Culture Secretary, Nadine Dorries condemned the BBC as an institution of people “whose mum and dad worked there,” and one which was built on nepotism.

She labelled the BBC an organisation of “groupthink”, linking it more widely to a culture of nepotism during an interview with the Telegraph.

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