SKY NEWS JOURNALIST Beth Rigby has pulled out of an interview with former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson after being told that she was not allowed to record or make a transcript of her interview.
It comes just two days after BBC journalist Laura Kuenssberg was forced to cancel her interview with Johnson after she accidentally sent the former PM briefing notes on the interview intended for her team.
Rigby, who is Sky News’ political editor, was meant to be interviewing Johnson at The Times and Sunday Times Literature Festival in Cheltenham on 10 October. Johnson is promoting his memoir, Unleashed, in which he reveals “what really happened during [his] time as Mayor, Foreign Secretary and PM.”
In a post on X, Rigby said: “I was looking forward to interviewing Boris Johnson at Cheltenham, but regrettably I can’t go ahead with the event because I am not allowed make an audio recording or transcript of the interview.
“As a journalist in conversation with a former PM at a public event, I can only proceed if we do it on the record. I’m sorry to have to pull out.”
I was looking forward to interviewing Boris Johnson at Cheltenham, but regrettably I can’t go ahead with the event because I am not allowed make an audio recording or transcript of the interview.
— Beth Rigby (@BethRigby) October 4, 2024
As a journalist in conversation with a former PM at a public event, I can only… https://t.co/P7kgHgfbCH
Johnson’s memoir is set to be published on 10 October, though there have been various extracts published ahead of its official publication. According to an extract, published in The Daily Mail in the UK last week, the former Prime Minister said the British government considered raiding a Dutch warehouse for Covid vaccines in 2021.
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