Kay Burley accused the Tory MP of “slightly swerving” her question, to which he denied being asked “directly”. Alistair Burt later asked the Sky News presenter “how far” she wants to go with her “wide ranging” questions. Ms Burley said: “You slightly swerved what I was trying to ask you so I’ll ask you more directly, what do you think about his attitude towards women?”

Mr Burt began: “Well you didn’t ask me that directly at all – “

The Sky News host interrupted: “I am asking you directly, that’s what I’m saying, this is my direct question to you, what do you think about his attitude towards women?”

The MP for North East Bedfordshire replied: “I think that’s been well over the newspapers, Boris Johnson has a personal life and a private life, which is his.

“It’s now not so private, it’s out there, but I think concentrating on the issues we were concentrating on the House of Commons, is the more important thing. You have to ask him about his attitude.”

Ms Burley questioned: “It’s not so private if it’s misappropriating public funds though is it?”

Mr Burt then asked “how far” she wanted to go with her questions that “range quite widely”, before she retorted: “That’s what I do.”

The Tory MP said: “Yes I know Kay, that is exactly what you do, that’s why we so enjoy speaking to you. There’s been an investigation into the allegations about misappropriation of public funds, I think it’s probably better to wait for that, don’t you?”

Ms Burley then appeared to sarcastically reply: “Not really, but I’m thrilled you always enjoy being interviewed by me.”

The Sky News presenter later tweeted about the exchange, posting: “Rather testy @AlistairBurtUK unhappy I asked about the PM’s attitude to women as part of wide-ranging interview

“Always think politicians are representatives of the people and should be prepared to answer questions put to them by the media. Maybe I’m just an old-fashioned hack.”

However, one Twitter user defended Mr Burt: “Watched the interview and thought he handled a rather silly question well to be fair.”

Another said: “It’s because the question was out of the blue and not relevant to discussing the Brexit deal. Annoyed me so I switched over.”

A third added: “I thought his reaction was justified. You accused him of ducking a question you hadn’t asked and then asked the question. Doesn’t make sense at all.”

DON’T MISS

Boris Johnson Brexit deal: Does Boris have the support in Commons? [INSIGHT]
Varadkar rejects Boris Johnson’s backstop plan [BLOG]
BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg exposes Boris’ plan to ‘smack back’ EU [VIDEO]

The debate follows journalist Charlotte Edwardes accusing Boris Johnson of touching her thigh, and that of another woman, inappropriately at a lunch in 1999.

She said his hand was “high up my leg and he has enough inner flesh beneath his fingers to make me sit suddenly upright.” The now-Prime Minister has strongly denied the claims.

Writing on the alleged incident, Ms Edwardes said: “I’m seated on Johnson’s right; on his left is a young woman I know. More wine is poured; more wine is drunk.

“Under the table I feel Johnson’s hand on my thigh. He gives it a squeeze. His hand is high up my leg and he has enough inner flesh beneath his fingers to make me sit suddenly upright.”

The Prime Minister’s team has strongly denied the allegations, calling them “untrue”. Asked on Monday if the incident had taken place, Mr Johnson said: “No.” He also told Sky News: “I don’t in any way minimise the importance of the types of allegations or this type of thing. But this is not true and all I can say is that, actually, I can’t say anymore about it. What I want to do is focus on the domestic agenda that we have.”

Chancellor Sajid Javid also defended the Prime Minister over the accusation, telling Good Morning Britain: “In my world when you have public figures there are allegations against individuals all the time. I’ve had all sorts of allegations everyday.

“I get them on social media, when I meet people but it doesn’t make them true. I don’t think it’s appropriate for people to comment on these personal allegations and I’m not going to do that.”

Source: Read Full Article