Peston on Sunday gives Leadsom's call for patriotism a droll reply

After Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the House of Commons, called for broadcasters to be “a bit patriotic” over their coverage of Brexit, the set of Robert Peston’s ITV show has been jokingly decorated with union jacks.

Peston, who presents ITV’s Peston on Sunday, shared a picture of the studio, making light of Leadsom’s comments, which have come under fire.

Taking to Twitter, Preston wrote: “Shout out to @andrealeadsom: we’ve been listening to you! Look what we’ve done to Croissant Corner on @pestononsunday.”

Leadsom, who stood for the leadership of the Conservative party last year, made the remark about broadcasters needing to be more patriotic during an interview with Emily Maitlis of the BBC’s Newsnight.

Leadsom said: “It would be helpful if broadcasters were willing to be a bit patriotic. The country took a decision, this government is determined to deliver on that decision.”

Maitlis, who was presenting the show, responded by asking: “Are you accusing me of being unpatriotic for questioning how negotiations are going, questioning whether you have the position of strength that she said she wanted?”

Leadsom replied: “I’m not accusing you of anything, Emily. I’m simply saying we all need to pull together as a country. We took a decision a year ago today to leave the European Union, we have a very strong hand and we are very well prepared for the negotiations.”

The outgoing Liberal Democrat leader, Tim Farron, said Leadsom’s comments were “sinister”.

“This is a sinister threat to the free media. How dare Andrea Leadsom tell the press what they should think? This isn’t a George Orwell book. She needs to apologise for these comments and realise what she said was frankly stupid,” Farron said.

Peston’s post has received hundreds of likes, retweets and comments. One person wrote: “Can you feel the Twitter-love flooding over you? That is superb.” Another said: “Surely if you were truly patriotic it would be renamed crumpet corner?”