Boris Johnson the only politician I lost my temper with on Today, says Nick Robinson
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Nick Robinson has said the only time he lost his temper presenting the Today programme was when he interviewed Boris Johnson.
Robinson told the then prime minister to “stop talking” during a conversation about the Government’s handling of truck driver shortages in October 2021.
The BBC’s former political editor said he had “apologised endlessly” for rebuking Mr Johnson during the heated exchange – but added that people often tell him it is “one of the best things” he has done.
Speaking on The Today Podcast, Robinson said: “The only time I have lost my temper on air since presenting the Today Programme – which is now what, eight years? – was with Boris Johnson.
“I have apologised endlessly for it, although people keep telling me it’s one of the best things I ever did but I still will apologise for it, when I told him to stop talking.”
As Mr Johnson responded to a question, Robinson stopped him and said: ‘Prime minister you are going to pause ... prime minister, stop talking’.
Robinson told the podcast: “I lost my temper, not because of what he was saying but because of the total and deliberate and wilful lack of respect. He was just trying to talk out the entire interview while ignoring the questions, and had broken eye contact to look at the wall – which is how I knew what he was up to, in order to do it. And I lost my temper.”
Amol Rajan, Robinson’s co-host, said his response in the exchange was “completely reasonable” and recalled that Mr Johnson had once told him he was going to produce a ‘blonde wall of noise’ and ignore questions during an interview.
Rajan added: “Years ago, I worked for a disastrous TV station called London Live. Boris Johnson came on as this big guest for this show. It was the first time I have interviewed someone of that stature in front of a camera.
“And, he said to me in the adverts, ‘what I am going to do to you Amol, what I am going to do to you is I’m going to produce this blond wall of noise’. He said: ‘I’m going to be like Phil Spector, I’m going to talk at you and it’s going to be hard for you to get in.’
“It’s a technique of his, it’s an absolute avower technique, which he’s explicit about – to talk over people. To say that he’s someone who likes the sound of his own voice would not be inaccurate.”
Rajan said he was on his co-host’s side during the exchange, adding: “When you did that, when you said ‘stop talking’, which I heard on air, I thought well that was a completely reasonable response.
“Because you are under such time pressure. You have only got 18 minutes, which is nothing. You’ve got 18 minutes and you’ve got someone who is trying to talk over you.”
