Former prime minister David Cameron had a pop at Boris Johnson, accusing him of being “able to get away with things that mere mortals can’t”.
In an interview with Sky News, Cameron said the prime minister shouldn’t “bypass the media”.
He said: “Well, Boris has always been able to get away with things that mere mortals can’t seem to.
“But, look, I think you shouldn’t do this to bypass the media. You go on having… whether it is press conferences or interviews or media events — this is important.”
“And I always did. Yes, the press conferences were rather infrequent, but I never held back from going on the Today programme and coming on your show [All Out Politics]. I mean, we were always available and keen to engage and to answer questions”.
It comes after earlier this week, no minister was available for clarification on Sky News about whether people can go ahead with their plans for Christmas and holidays.
Sky News presenter Kay Burley said the Tories did not send a single representative on TV to give people clarity on whether they can enjoy the festive season.
She said: “After saying they reserved the right to bring in further measures, what impact will that have on our plans for celebrations and holidays. The head of the World Health Organisation calling for people to cancel events in order to save lives.
“We were keen to seek clarification from the government this morning, but there’s no minister available to clear up the confusion for you.”
Shadow employment rights minister Justin Madders reacted to the news, saying “people want answers, they want leadership, this lot aren’t even in the room”.
Last month, Labour said Boris Johnson has travelled further than the circumference of the Earth to evade difficult questions over the last decade.
The opposition looked into the prime minister’s notorious absences from important moments since 2011 – and found out he has travelled an astonishing 26,529 miles to serve awkward encounters.
The world’s circumference is approximately 24,901 miles.
Johnson was controversially absent from a heated sleaze debate in November, where MPs discussed the Tories’ attempt to overhaul the independent MPs’ watchdog in light of the Owen Paterson scandal.
And he infamously got up early to pretend to be a milkman at Greenside Farm Business Park rather than face the hard-edged political questioning of Good Morning Britain in the run-up to the 2019 election.
Minders pushed reporters back as the prime minister could be spotted hiding behind stacks of milk crates and disappearing into the large fridge at the dairy depot.
And he was the only party leader to dodge an interview with Andrew Neil in the lead up to the 2019 election.
Related: ‘A prime minister in tatters’: European press savages Boris Johnson
