Laura Kuenssberg reveals more about axed BBC Boris Johnson interview - and the 'brighter side' of blunder
Laura Kuenssberg shared additional insights into why a scheduled BBC interview with Boris Johnson had to be canceled. She also mentioned a "positive aspect" of the situation after admitting that she accidentally forwarded her briefing notes to the former prime minister.
In her weekly newsletter, Kuenssberg, the host of the broadcaster's Sunday politics program, discussed her recent "embarrassing error." She expressed her disappointment and frustration that her planned interview with Mr. Johnson, whom she described as "one of the most significant politicians of our era," could not take place.
She mentioned that when she gets ready for an interview, she collaborates with a small team of producers to identify the key topics that are likely to come up. Afterwards, she considers how the person being interviewed might respond to those questions.
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"Completing your homework is essential, even if you're very familiar with the topic—particularly when dealing with a politician like Johnson, who often avoids answering questions," Kuenssberg noted.
She mentioned that she often discards numerous prepared questions but would "never, ever" disclose them to the politician or any guest in advance.
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"If they were aware of what was ahead, they could get all their responses ready, making it feel like a completely scripted activity," she explained.
We also couldn't have altered the topics of our questions. If I hadn’t inquired about issues like Brexit, COVID, partygate, his resignation, or his honesty, we wouldn't have been fulfilling our responsibilities.
"Unfortunately, we had to put a stop to it, which is quite disappointing."
The BBC interview was planned to kick off a series of media appearances for the ex-prime minister to promote his upcoming book, *Unleashed*, set to be released on October 10.
The network had been heavily advertising it for the last two weeks, but the BBC's public relations team stated that sharing the notes now makes the discussion "impossible to continue."
Looking on the positive side of what Kuenssberg called an "embarrassing" mistake on Wednesday, she mentioned that others had reached out to share their own blunders.
Kuenssberg shared an instance where a past government advisor texted someone she believed was her coworker. She was venting about how the cabinet minister she was working under was in a bad mood. However, she mistakenly sent the message to the cabinet minister himself.
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Kuenssberg shared another instance where a previous prime minister from a different nation was mistakenly sent an email that contained an offensive term. According to the parliamentary aide involved, the prime minister ended up reading the email aloud during Prime Minister's Questions.
