Krishnan Guru-Murthy has expressed his dismay after the Prime Minister dipped out of a leaders debate on Channel 4 this Sunday.
The news anchor said that despite Boris Johnson saying he is in favour of debates, the channel was unable to secure an agreement from his team after detailed talks between the two sides.
Jeremy Corbyn had agreed to appear on the debate.
Boris Johnson said he was in favour of debates and his team have been in detailed talks with us for weeks about format and rules right up until yesterday. They insisted they were engaged and wanted to take on Jeremy Corbyn on our channel. Corbyn said yes. Offer still stands. https://t.co/chRAoUdjNu
— Krishnan Guru-Murthy (@krishgm) November 21, 2019
Uxbridge and South Ruislip hustings
It comes as Johnson also announced he would not be participating in a local hustings in his constituency of Uxbrige and South Ruislip.
Labour candidate Ali Milani tweeted that the event has now been cancelled, although there have been suggestions that he should empty chair the PM.
Milani said:
“Local hustings are a vital part of our democracy. Every resident deserves the chance to hear from ALL their candidates and ask questions.”
He has extended the offer of a rescheduled date at Johnson’s earliest convenience.
Undecided voters
Johnson and Corbyn clashed heads in the first TV debate of the general election earlier this week.
Despite Boris Johnson winning marginally overall, details of the YouGov poll show undecided voters gave Corbyn a 59-41 per cent lead over his political opponent.
It found that when voters were divided between those who have “definitely decided” which way they will cast their ballot and those who will “wait until closer to the time” the Labour leader came out overwhelmingly on top.
When asked how the two leaders had performed individually in the debate, some 71 per cent of the undecideds said the Labour leader had done well and 29 per cent badly, compared to a much closer 51 per cent well and 49 per cent badly for the prime minister.
Mr Corbyn was seen as more trustworthy, more likeable and more in touch with ordinary people by undecided voters than by the electorate as a whole, and also closed Mr Johnson’s advantage on looking prime ministerial from 27 points overall to 21 points among swing voters.
The Labour leader’s narrow 49-44 advantage over Mr Johnson on the NHS among voters overall swelled to an overwhelming 66-25 among undecided voters, while he cut the PM’s lead on Brexit and government spending.
Among a third, very small, group of voters who said they were not sure whether or not they had decided who to support, Mr Corbyn led by a dominant 74-26 over Mr Johnson.
Related: Labour can close the gap in the polls according to evidence from the last election
