Emily Maitlis apologises for sharing post accusing government of ‘Trumpian shabiness’

Emily Maitlis has apologised after she retweeted a post that criticised “sheer tawdry Trumpian shabbiness” of the government’s handling of the congoing scandal over lockdown gatherings at No 10 and Whitehall.

Ms Maitlis, a presenter for BBC Two’s Newsnight programme  shared the tweet posted earlier today by erstwhile Conservative MP and  Rory Stewart, in which he argued that “it is difficult to see how much more of this the party or our political system can survive”.

Mr Stewart’s remarks were made in response to a video clip showing  Culture Secretary 

Nadine Dorries defending the prime minister’s approach to top civil servant Sue Gray’s “update” on her investigation into the parties.

“I have deleted my earlier retweet of the below and would like to apologise for the hurt I have caused” Maitlis said.

“For the avoidance of doubt I accept I should have added extra context – it was retweeted in haste – and was wrong to do.”

This is not the first time Ms Maitlis has came under fire over her Twitter shares.

Last February she was accused of violating BBC impartiality rules after retweeting a post by Piers Morgan that criticised the government’s response to Coronavirus.

“If failing to quarantine properly is punishable by 10yrs in prison, what is the punishment for failing to properly protect the country from a pandemic?” Mr Morgan’s post read.