(Credit: White House Flickr CC)
Hamed Chapman
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is planning on introducing White House-style lobby briefings at Downing Street in a further move to imitate the popularist distinctions of US President Donald Trump.
The British system of Lobby correspondents that allows selected political journalists to have unique access to Government briefing sessions and proceedings in parliament dates back to the 19th century that has been largely unattributed so the source cannot be named.
Speaking during an interview with LBC Radio, Johnson suggested that the briefings held daily could be televised, claiming that the public had liked having more direct information from ministers and advisers during the coronavirus press conferences.
“People have liked a more direct, detailed information from the Government about what is going on – and I think that they’ve actually particularly liked our brilliant scientific and medical advisers, possibly more than the politicians to be frank.”
“We do think that people want direct engagement and want stuff from us, and so we’re going to have a go at that,” he added, also saying that he himself would “pop up from time to time” at the briefings.
Without further information, it appears unclear what the exact format will be. The current briefings are twice a day but some reports suggest that it will be only the afternoon session that will be broadcast while the morning one will remain behind closed doors.
Currently, they are held by either the Prime Minister’s spokesman or deputy, who are both civil servants but any change is not expected to take place until autumn. It has even been suggested that an experienced broadcaster was being sought to lead the sessions and make them even more like those at the White House.
