No 10 blocks ministers from Sky News after cost of living ‘gotcha’ interview

Downing Street is locked in a row with Sky News over a cost of living “gotcha” interview with a minister who said people struggling to pay bills should take on more hours at work.

Number 10 refused to allow ministers to be interviewed on Sky News’s morning programmes on Thursday and Friday after claiming that Kay Burley, a Sky presenter, had treated Rachel Maclean unfairly on Monday.

Ms Maclean, a junior home office minister, was widely criticised after she said the Government should “make sure that people are able to protect themselves better, whether that is by taking on more hours or moving to a better-paid job”.

She added: “It may be right for some people, they may be able to access additional hours, but, of course, it is not going to work for people who are already in three jobs.”

Following the interview, Ms Burley relayed the comments to one voter in Wigan, who said the minister “needs to get in the real world”.

The remarks were then put to Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland Secretary, and Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, who appeared for interviews on Sky News on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Downing Street feels Ms Burley did not make it clear enough that the minister was referring to a “long term” strategy for workers to earn more rather than practical advice for families struggling to pay bills.

“She quite clearly gave a forward-looking, long-term solution, and then Kay Burley packaged it up and started throwing it to members of the public in Wigan as if it was a short-term solution, which was naughty,” said a government source.

“We gave her Brandon Lewis the next day, and she’s still going for Rachel through Brandon. We gave her Liz Truss, and she’s still going for Rachel through Liz.”

The Telegraph understands Number 10 is now deciding whether to send a minister on to the programme each day on a “case-by-case basis”, rather than automatically allowing Sky access to the daily broadcast round.

Officials are also considering a wider review of the morning broadcast round. One source said syndicated news bulletins from Bauer Media, which owns the stations Kiss and Absolute Radio, received four times as many listeners as Ms Burley’s programme. In future, ministerial interviews may be allocated based on their ratings.

While other broadcasters interviewed Kit Malthouse, the policing minister, and Dominic Raab, the Justice Secretary, on Wednesday and Thursday morning, Sky News was not permitted a ministerial interview.

Number 10 stressed that the Government has an “accessible and open-minded broadcast approach”, offers senior ministers to the BBC’s Newsnight programme and has provided guests for a new programme on Sky News fronted by Sophy Ridge.

“In the morning, we give everyone pretty much everything every day,” a source said.

Ms Maclean’s comments about the cost-of-living crisis led to her receiving a death threat. In a statement, she said she had received “a torrent of personal attacks, including a threat made against my life”.

David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, said her comments were “tone deaf, out of touch and condescending in a cost-of-living crisis”.

The boycott of Sky News is not the first Downing Street retribution for unfavourable reporting. It previously denied access to the Today programme and ITV’s Good Morning Britain over complaints about over-aggressive questioning from journalists.

Sky News declined to comment.