Susanna Reid effortlessly demolished calls for Boris Johnson to return to frontline politics on Tuesday by reminding his supporters about nothing other than partygate.
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Speaking on ITV’sGood Morning Britain, former Tory MEP David Campbell Bannerman said he would install Johnson as party chairman with a seat in cabinet, and make sure he got elected to parliament at the next general election.
He claimed: “He’s a great campaigner and we really are missing that now – we’ve seen that at these disastrous local elections.”
But, Campbell Bannerman said the ex-PM was “set up” on that, as Johnson’s keen ally Nadine Dorries claims in her book, The Plot.
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Reid said: “Sorry, he was set up? Set up by whom?”
When the ex-MEP said it was Johnson’s own staff who were setting him up, Reid reminded him: “Boris Johnson was in charge during lockdown, [there was] legislation he introduced and [he] then proceeded to have a whole load of social events and breach of rules in No.10 Downing Street.
“In what way was that a set-up?”
Campbell Bannerman claimed Johnson “doesn’t like partying” to which Reid said: “I just saw him with a wine glass in his hand!”
When the ex-MEP just claimed the reality is very complex, Reid recalled how Johnson was fined for breaching lockdown rules.
Campbell Bannerman then claimed that “it was the media”, and said that Johnson was only a few percentage points behind in the polls – and that he does not understand why he resigned as an MP.
“I think he will be back,” Campbell Bannerman said.
Apparently not deterred by Reid’s reminders, the ex-MEP later added: “I say to Conservative MPs, for heaven’s sake, step up, get rid of Sunak, let’s have a new leader, which can bring Boris back as part of a team – it has to be Suella [Braverman] or Kemi [Badenoch].”
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He added that he “would not be averse” to having Nigel Farage back into the Conservative fold, too.
Should the Conservatives bring back Boris Johnson into the Party in order to save it?
Former Conservative MEP David Campbell Bannerman would like to see Boris back in the Conservative Party.
David Tennant has been announced as the host of a brand new reality TV show called Genius Game.
The Doctor Who actor will front the new ITV show which is “inviting the country’s most brilliant minds” to take part in the “ultimate” challenge for a cash prize.
The series will see contestants participate in never before seen games which have been designed to not only test their intellectual ability, but encourage them to use manipulation to outmanoeuvre opponents.
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David will take on the role of The Creator in the eight-part series, which originates from South Korea, guiding players as they navigate the challenges.
It’s already being compared to The Traitors, in which contestants must avoid being exposed as traitors by way of lying and manipulation of their fellow contestants. It’s also following in the footsteps of the mega-hit Squid Game, the South Korean dystopian drama about a series of life or death strategic games for a prize fund, which was also adapted in reality format for the UK.
According to press materials, players will be chosen not just for their “intellectual prowess”, but their social IQ.
Produced by Remarkable Entertainment, the show will challenge players to “deceive, collude and outsmart their opponents” to become the first UK winner of Genius Game.
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The Genius first premiered in South Korea in April 2013, running for four seasons until 2015.
“This exciting reality format is designed to keep not just the players but the audience on the edge of their seats with each episode containing compelling gameplay and thrilling twists,” said Katie Rawcliffe, Head of Entertainment at ITV. “David Tennant is the perfect ringmaster to preside over this battle of brainpower, teamwork and deception. We’re delighted to be bringing Genius Game to the ITV audience.”
Tamara Gilder, joint MD of Remarkable added: “We are so thrilled that David will be guiding the players through the twists & turns of the show. There’s nothing quite like Genius Game, it’s smart and funny – just like he is – he’s the perfect frontman.”
With ITV1 splitting TV coverage of the Women’s World Cup with the BBC, there’s set to be disruption to regular programming in the coming weeks.
The tournament is currently underway in Australia and New Zealand, meaning that many games are taking place in the morning hours for sports fans in the UK.
So, if you’re flicking on the telly disappointed not to see Susanna Reid, Lorraine Kelly, Alison Hammond and co on your screens, here’s the full schedule for ITV1 daytime this week…
Phillip Schofield has denied grooming the younger male colleague he had an affair with as the former This Morning star gave his first interview since leaving the broadcaster.
He resigned from ITV last week and was dropped by his talent agency YMU after admitting to an “unwise but not illegal” relationship.
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Schofield had reportedly first met the man when he was 15 years old, but said the affair did not begin until he was much older and had begun working at ITV.
In an interview with The Sun, the 61-year-old presenter said: “I did not, I did not (groom him).
“There are accusations of all sorts of things. It never came across that way because we’d become mates. I don’t know about that.
“But of course I understand that there will be a massive judgment, but bearing in mind, I have never exercised that anywhere else.”
Schofield also said that his “greatest apology” was to his former lover, who has been brought the “greatest misery into his totally innocent life”.
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He added: “I am deeply sorry and I apologise to him because I should have known better…. I will die sorry. I am so deeply mortified.”
He also said he thought it “looked shocking” when an old photograph, featuring both him and the man who would later become his lover, emerged online.
Schofield also told the newspaper he did not “lie to protect” his career, but the colleague “didn’t want his name in public”.
He said it began in 2017 after a “consensual moment” in his dressing room and it was “not a love affair, it was not a relationship, we were not boyfriends; we were mates”.
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Schofield said his wife was “very, very angry” after he confessed to her, having previously denied the relationship.
He also said: “She got off a plane and I phoned her up and texted saying, ‘I need to talk to you’. She called back and I told her.”
The BBC is also set to release an interview with Schofield being questioned by Amol Rajan.
In a trailer, the presenter also told BBC News: “It was a totally innocent picture, a totally innocent Twitter follow, of which I follow 11,400 people, and then it was a completely innocent backwards and forwards over a period of time about a job, about careers.
“What’s wrong with that? What’s wrong with talking to someone no matter what age they are?
“Does that mean that if you’re following anyone on Twitter that you absolutely don’t talk to anybody else or you don’t give advice?”
He added: “The brief communications backwards and forwards up to the point that he came to work on This Morning I think was just chat.”
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Schofield clarified why his statement last week said the affair was “unwise”, and called it a “very, very grave error”.
He added: “It was consensual, but it was my fault.”
Love Island newcomer George Fensom has spoken out after an ex-girlfriend branded him “controlling” in a video shared on social media and homophobic tweets emerged.
The 24-year-old business development executive is among the first batch of singletons headed into the Majorcan villa when the 10th series begins on Monday.
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Not long after George was announced to be taking part in the ITV2 show, fans unearthed old tweets in which the islander used homophobic language.
They also discovered his former partner had uploaded a TikTok video in which she claimed he cheated on her and was “controlling”.
George has since broken his silence on both instances, and addressing the tweets first, he said: “It’s really unfortunate that that’s been bought up because that isn’t the person that I am today.
“Looking back on those tweets, I was really naïve and really young to think that was the right thing to say.
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“It’s obviously not the right thing to say on my behalf… That’s pretty much it really.”
George explained that the tweets were posted over a decade ago and that he is continuing to learn.
“In regards to people saying that I’m not right for the villa, all I would say is this, everyone’s made mistakes,” he continued.
“Everyone has said things that they regret. The difference in the way that I’ll defend myself is the way that I’m owning that and I’ve admitted that that was the wrong thing to say.
“And actually, if I could turn back time then I wouldn’t have said the things that I said. That’s all I can do to defend myself and say in this scenario.”
Turning his attention to the accusations made by his ex-girlfriend, George voiced his disappointment.
“It’s really unfortunate and actually quite upsetting on my behalf that a picture has has been painted about me in that light,” he said.
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“I’m looking forward to moving forward with things and going into the villa and just providing a new wave of energy and to prove that the things that have been written about me aren’t true.
“People can see a different light to me.”
The opening cast of this year’s Love Island
Vincent Dolman/ITV
George added that Love Island’s training videos on being mutually respectful in relationships, which is part of its duty of care policy, have also been beneficial.
“Every day is a learning day and everyday you learn things, no matter if it’s regards to a work aspect or relationships and things,” he said.
“People react differently to different things and people feel a certain way about different things as well.”
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George’s place on Love Island was announced in recent days, with the singleton revealing what he’s looking for in a romance.
Speaking in the show’s official press pack, he said: “I’ve put myself first in relationships before and it didn’t end well, so I’m looking to focus and give 100% of my time and care to someone.
“I want to settle down, I’m getting old.
“I prefer a girl who is naturally good looking, and someone who has even more banter than me – although I don’t believe that’s physically possible.”
HuffPost UK has contacted Love Island for comment.
Last month, the former Top Gear host faced widespread criticism over an opinion piece he penned in which he said he “hated” the Duchess of Sussex on a “cellular level”.
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He added in the piece that he “dreamed” of the day she’d be “made to parade naked through the streets” while crowds “throw lumps of excrement at her”.
Shortly after its publication, Clarkson faced calls to be dropped as the host of ITV’s Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, which the channel’s CEO responded to at the time in a letter that was made public this week.
In the letter, McCall told one complainant their “concerns are completely understandable”.
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry
Chris Jackson via Getty Images
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“ITV has no editorial control over Jeremy Clarkson’s independent journalistic output in The Sun or anywhere else he chooses to publish,” she wrote (via Deadline).
“Everyone at ITV is very aware of our responsibilities as a Public Service Broadcaster and I’d like to be clear that the comments made were Jeremy Clarkson’s own and are in no way endorsed by ITV. There is no place on ITV for the comments made in that article.”
McCall added: “It is also worth adding that Jeremy Clarkson is not an ITV employee and that when he appears on ITV it is as a quiz show host on a show which does not provide a platform for his opinions.”
Carolyn McCall
LEON NEAL via Getty Images
At the height the controversy last month, Clarkson said he was “horrified to have caused so much hurt”, but stopped short of an actual apology at the time.
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Since then, he shared a lengthy statement on Instagram claiming he’d sent an email to both Meghan and her husband Prince Harry on Christmas Day to say his language in the column had been “disgraceful” and he was “profoundly sorry”.
He claimed: “Usually, I read what I’ve written to someone else before filing, but I was home alone on that fateful day, and in a hurry. So when I’d finished, I just pressed send.
“And then, when the column appeared the next day, the land mine exploded.”
A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex later said: “On December 25, 2022, Mr Clarkson wrote solely to Prince Harry, The Duke of Sussex. The contents of his correspondence were marked Private and Confidential.
“While a new public apology has been issued today by Mr Clarkson, what remains to be addressed is his long standing pattern of writing articles that spread hate rhetoric, dangerous conspiracy theories, and misogyny.
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“Unless each of his other pieces were also written ‘in a hurry’, as he states, it is clear that this is not an isolated incident shared in haste, but rather a series of articles shared in hate.”
Eamonn addressed his exit in a new interview with The Mirror, where he hinted at backstage tensions with “one or two” people that would prevent him from working at the broadcaster in future.
He also said he has not watched any of the show since leaving, saying: “It would be too… sensitive. I mean, I spend every day going out on the street and people saying, ‘Why are you and Ruth not on any more?’”
Eamonn with wife and former This Morning co-host Ruth Langsford
Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock
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Eamonn also reiterated that he wished to know more about conversations that were supposedly happening behind the scenes.
“I wish somebody would show me the email or the letter or that I was sent to say, ‘Eamonn, this is why this is coming to an end’,” Eamonn said.
“But to tell lies, that I left them to go to GB News…I didn’t – they left me. Let’s get it straight. They left me. I don’t care, because our audience is only up.”
An ITV spokesperson previously disputed that they had made it look as if Eamonn had “walked away from them, rather than the other way round”.
“This isn’t a version of events that we recognise and as we have said before we wish Eamonn all of the very best,” a rep said.
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When Eamonn’s exit was first announced, a rep for ITV said: “We would like to wish Eamonn all of the very best in his new role. As a duo, Eamonn and Ruth have been part of the This Morning presenting team for the last 15 years and we thank Eamonn for all of his hard work and contribution to the show.”
“Phillip is renowned for snubbing people,” he claimed. “He’s very passive-aggressive. It’s up to Ruth to say how she felt, but I was feeling hurt for her.
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“No one would have snubbed me like that. I have a good Belfast street fighter in me… I would be direct. I don’t go for presenters who think they have a special privilege or aura or influence.”
While presenting the ITV show, Adil was discussing the government’s failed attempts to fly asylum seekers who arrive at British shores via illegal means to Rwanda with The Times’ political sketch writer Quentin Letts.
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Explaining how Ukrainians seeking refuge here were able to apply online while the process for those coming from other countries, such as war-torn Afghanistan, was more difficult, Adil said: “The Afghans do not have an online visa system.”
When Letts tried to say he wasn’t sure if there was a system available to the Afghans looking to resettle in the UK, Adil interjected: “I’m telling you there’s not.”
Looking exasperated, Letts said: “You’ve asked me on this programme, you never let me actually answer a question.
“There are procedures, there are perfectly legal procedures, for people to come in. But what the people using the boats are doing is they’re paying money to scoot around the rules.”
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Migrants who arrive into the UK by crossing the Channel are at the centre of the government’s new policy.
The Home Office has repeatedly justified this controversial new approach by claiming the route is unsafe and that the human traffickers who send the asylum seekers across must be deterred.
For comparison, the government opened up several different schemes to help home Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion following intense public pressure.
But, as Adil pointed out, many people travelling to the UK across the Channel are doing so “because there are no legal routes” available for them.
“There are legal routes,” Letts said in response.
“There aren’t actually,” he persisted.
Adil and Letts continued to speak over each other, until the guest eventually said: “I give up! There’s no point.”
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“It’s my job to correct you, Quentin,” the GMB presenter explained.
“It’s not actually, your job is – you ask me a question, and you don’t let me answer it.”
“That’s not the point,” Adil continued. “Do you accept that first of all, there aren’t the legal routes, there isn’t an online system like the Ukrainians have.”
“Look, people on the boats are paying money to smugglers to get round the rules.”
“Because there are no legal routes.”
Letts sighed loudly and said, “forget it,” waving his hand dismissively.
The presenter persisted: “You can’t avoid that question.”
“There’s no point talking to you,” gesturing to the other people sat on the GMB panel, Letts added: “Four of you against me, it’s just absolutely pointless.”
At which point the other presenter, Kate Garraway, chipped in: “No one’s against you! It’s about looking at the facts.”
The clash comes two days after the European Court of Human Rights ruled against the first Rwanda flight which was supposed to take refugees out of the country.
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The sudden move from the European court has left some factions in the Conservative Party furious, while the government has promised it will not give up on its attempts to remove illegal immigrants to East Africa.
After five years at the helm of GMB, Piers announced suddenly in March 2021 that he would be stepping down as host with immediate effect.
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News of his exit came the day after he made headlines for casting doubt on claims made by Meghan Markle that she had experienced suicidal thoughts during her time as a senior member of the Royal Family, with Piers’ remark eventually inciting a record number of complaints to Ofcom.
During a press event to promote his show Piers Morgan Uncensored, the divisive broadcaster was asked about his exit from GMB, which he branded “ridiculous”, “absurd” and “a farce”.
“I used to think that I was uncensored,” he claimed. “And then, of course, when I left Good Morning Britain it turned out that I actually was being censored, in the sense that I was told I had to apologise for disbelieving Princess Pinochio, or I would have to leave the building. So I took the ‘leave the building’ option.”
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He described the decision as a “sad moment” for himself, the show and his “poor TV wife” Susanna Reid, joking: “It was a very dramatic divorce. And I thought it was the wrong call by ITV.
“They had the hottest show on TV, it had just beaten the BBC to become the number one-rated breakfast show in the country. I wasn’t expecting a carriage clock, but I wasn’t expecting to be escorted out of the building. So it was all a bit dramatic.”
Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid pictured on his final day as a presenter on GMB
ITV/Shutterstock
He continued: “It’s interesting to me that Ofcom, the government-appointed TV regulator, five months later, found in my favour, and said that it would have been a chilling infringement on my rights to free speech had I not been able to say, ‘I don’t believe somebody’. So the whole thing seemed to me a bit ridiculous.”
He said: “The moment you try and get me fired, as Megan Markle did on Good Morning Britain, where she personally writes to the boss of ITV and demands my head on a plate, that is cancel culture right there. And the idea that ITV rolled over to it is ridiculous.
“But that’s why I’m here, and I feel, in a way, grateful to them, because I think this is a very exciting new platform and opportunity.”
Meghan Markle
NDZ/Star Max via Getty Images
“The mystery about the ITV thing was that I was hired specifically to have strongly-held opinions,” he added. “So, that’s why I felt the way I had to leave in the end was so absurd. And the more you look back on it, the more you go, ‘what was that all about?’.
“I thought the whole thing was a farce, and I’m delighted that as a result of the farce, we’ve ended up with a whole network that is now dedicated to preventing that kind of farce from recurring.”
Making a somewhat questionable comparison, Piers added that he felt “like Nelson Mandela when he came out of prison”, joking: “It’s like the long walk to free speech freedom.”
Piers went on to insist that he would not be “looking to steal Good Morning Britain viewers”, before throwing some shade at the daytime TV show, which has brought in a string of rotating guest hosts since Piers’ exit.
“I would be looking to pick up all those who’ve stopped watching [GMB],” he claimed. “Which, judging by when I walk around and judging by their ratings, is a lot of people.
“So if you loved Good Morning Britain when I was on it, and you miss me in that way, you know where to find me. There are a lot of people who I think were annoyed about what went down. And they’d be the ones I’d be after.”
Piers Morgan in the GMB studio
Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock
Since stepping down from GMB over a year ago, Piers has made a number of seemingly conflicting comments about the nature of his exit.
The morning after the news of his exit, Piers told reporters: “I had a good chat with ITV and we agreed to disagree. I’m just going to take it easy and see how we go.
“If I have to fall on my sword for expressing an honestly-held opinion about Meghan Markle and that diatribe of bilge that she came out with in that interview, so be it,” he added at the time.
“Effectively I was censored at my previous job,” he claimed. “[I was] told to apologise to Meghan Markle for an honestly-held opinion, which obviously I wasn’t going to do.”
Piers Morgan Uncensored will launch on TalkTV at 8pm on Monday 25 April.
Dominic Lipinski – PA Images via Getty ImagesITV News political editor Robert Peston in Downing Street.
ITV News’ political editor Robert Peston has been told to go back to school after saying teachers did “not very much teaching” during lockdown.
The senior broadcast journalist made the eyebrow-raising claim in a series of tweets poring over official data on the economy, released on Wednesday.
He suggested that rising inflation was being driven, in part, by massive government spending to ensure the UK economy did not tank.
Peston went on to ponder whether the trend was underpinned by “the government paying teachers for not very much teaching, when lockdown closed schools”.
The other important way of looking at this is that output was surprisingly robust in the first three months of the year – since much of the so-called inflation was (eg) the phenomenon of the government paying teachers for not very much teaching, when lockdown closed schools
The journalist has 1.1m followers on Twitter, and what you might generously describe as taking his brain for a walk did not go down well on the social media platform.
Robert, I can guarantee that every single teacher in this country worked harder than you – a man, who as far as I can tell, is paid £750,000 a year to paraphrase WhatsApp messages he receives from Dominic Cummings.
Bob, I’m literally a fantasy author & I still do more research into what I write about than you seem to have done with this howler.
— A General Sense Of Foreboding (@Scriblit) May 12, 2021
WHOA. I know many teachers, and they worked twice as hard when schools were closed. They had to learn how to do online learning OVERNIGHT, keep track of vulnerable pupils, make online lessons interesting and engaging, etc etc etc. They went from 60-hour weeks to 100-hour ones.
— Margaret P Houston (@HoustonMargaret) May 12, 2021
On behalf of the nation’s teachers, who worked tirelessly to deliver education through lockdown, go to hell.
Are you FUCKING joking?? Seriously, not much teaching! My wife is teaching full days of live lessons and planning for those in school and those online, I don’t know any teachers who weren’t working their absolute arses off during the last year. Please rethink this statement
— Giles Paley-Phillips (@eliistender10) May 12, 2021
Teachers have never worked harder than through the pandemic, juggling teaching across hubs for key workers and online. Supporting students from a distance is extremely difficult.
It’s ignorant to suggest they were doing “nor very much teaching”.
How dare you @Peston ? You really need to rethink this slur on teachers who worked in ways you can’t even begin to imagine to support and teach young people. Shocking ignorance from you. https://t.co/zjZDKJTHCy
This is an outrageous misrepresentation of the work that teachers actually did during lockdown. They were teaching the children of key workers face to face, AND doing online teaching for children at home. And to a very high standard. I think an apology is in order @Peston
— Catherine Parrish (@Catheri63659074) May 12, 2021
Shocking thing to say – schools remained open. Staff managed direct & on line teaching, sorted out mess with vouchers & organised food deliveries, sourced IT. They are exhausted.
Even one of the ultimate Westminster insiders – Larry the Cat, or at least a Twitter account with 400,000-plus followers claiming to be the former Downing Street feline – could not come to his defence.
Robert, it’s not too late to delete this and apologise.
The broadcaster moved to clarify his comments as the backlash continued and the number of comments massively outstripped the retweets and likes – the dreaded ratio-ing.
Sorry. I know all teachers work incredibly hard whether locked down or not! I was not making a point about the amazing contribution they make whether locked down or not. But through no fault of their own, we know their productivity is impaired by lock down. If that was…
not so, there would have been no need to cancel exams or commission expensive catch up programmes. In other words the price of standardised educational outputs has risen significantly, we hope only temporarily
But there was a “don’t shoot the messenger” energy to his sort of mea culpa as he insisted teachers’ “productivity is impaired by lock down”.
The BBC’s former business editor was leaning into the strict economic definition of “productivity”, rather than displaying a more empathetic understanding of teachers being “productive” as they grappling with mass virtual learning and pastoral care that doubtless went above and beyond the call of duty.
The Guardian reported last year about “Britain’s teacher heroes” during lockdown, detailing how one teacher created his own YouTube character and another took students on virtual walks.
The words you were looking for were ‘sorry, I didn’t think that through, and I apologise profusely’.
