Express & Star

Corbyn pokes fun at Johnson for ‘hiding in fridge’ to avoid interview

During a campaign event in Middlesbrough, the Labour leader referenced the PM’s run-in with a reporter captured on breakfast TV.

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Prime Minister Boris Johnson carrying a crate

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has poked fun at the Prime Minister who was seen entering a fridge in an apparent attempt to avoid being interviewed by a TV reporter.

On Wednesday morning, ITV Good Morning Britain reporter Jonathan Swain tried to get Boris Johnson to take part in a live interview with presenters Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid.

Approaching the Prime Minister, Mr Swain said: “Morning Prime Minister, will you come on Good Morning Britain and deliver on your promise to talk to Piers and Susanna?”

“We’re ready to go, we’re live on ITV right now,” he added.

Mr Johnson’s head of press Rob Oxley can then be heard saying “oh for f***’s sake” to which Mr Morgan and Ms Reid are heard expressing their shock in the studio.

Mr Swain then said: “Do you want to tone your language down as well because people are watching this this morning.”

Mr Corbyn later poked fun at the Prime Minister for the encounter which happened on a visit to a milk delivery business in Yorkshire.

On a campaign stop in Middlesbrough on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Corbyn said: “I’ve not come here to deliver milk, or to hide in a fridge. I’ve come here with a message of hope.”

Former Tory MP David Gauke, who is standing as an independent candidate in South West Hertfordshire, posted a photo of himself inside a fridge on Twitter.

He joked that he was “not hiding” from Good Morning Britain presenters Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid by standing inside the fridge-freezer.

The Prime Minister was loading crates of milk and juice bottles onto a delivery vehicle in Leeds on his last day of campaigning ahead of Thursday’s General Election when he was approached by a reporter from ITV.

The reporter persistently asked if Mr Johnson would appear on the programme, to which the Prime Minister said: “Of course I will.”

He was then seen walking away after loading crates into a vehicle at Greenside Farm Business Park.

Asked again for an interview, the Prime Minister replied: “I’ll be with you in a second” and then he walked into a fridge with staff from the business park.

Mr Morgan later said that Mr Oxley called in to the ITV show to complain that he did not assault the reporter.

“He didn’t assault our man Swain, alright he didn’t assault him, what you were was extremely obnoxious, very aggressive, foul-mouthed and repulsive,” Mr Morgan said.

In a series of tweets, Mr Morgan accused the Prime Minister of “cowardice” and called him a “fridge-hider”.

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