Boris Johnson said TV debates were 'essential' despite shying away from taking part in them (Image: GETTY/EPA)
The ex-foreign secretary today agreed to appear in a televised debate between Conservative leadership rivals after he was labelled a “chicken”. Caving into pressure, he said he will appear in the BBC’s debate scheduled for Tuesday - but turned down Channel 4’s Sunday event. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt had taunted Mr Johnson for “hiding away” from a public grilling.
Earlier today Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd tweeted a clip of a 2018 Sky News interview with Mr Johnson in which he advocated TV debates.
He said: “For all politicians the thought of a leadership debate is always a bit daunting because you think ‘I might screw it up and I might say something terrible and it could go wrong for me’.
“My feeling is that they are essential and the public does need to see interchange between their potential leaders.
“The way for politicians to allay their anxieties about leadership debates is to have
