Iain Dale: Question About Police Call-Out "Should Not Have Come As A Surprise"

23 June 2019, 14:32 | Updated: 23 June 2019, 18:29

Iain Dale tells LBC his question to Boris Johnson about a police call-out to his home in the first Conservative hustings event should not have come as a surprise.

The LBC presenter was hosting the first of 16 Conservative Party leadership hustings events, and asked the former Foreign Secretary about the incident on Thursday night.

But Mr Johnson refused to answer, saying people did not "want to hear about that kind of thing" and instead spoke about the rear door of the new Routemaster buses and delivering the 2012 Olympics.

Speaking to Nigel Farage on LBC, Iain said the question shouldn't have come as a surprise and Mr Johnson would have been better off addressing the issue in his opening statement.

"I said having read the papers that day, everyone will want to know why the police were called to your house in the early hours of Friday morning," Iain said.

"He didn't want to answer it, so I persisted and that was my job.

"But imagine what would have happened if I didn't ask the question.

"It shouldn't have come as a surprise, and I think it was entirely relevant, entirely appropriate - if the police are called to your house, whatever the circumstances, that becomes a matter of public interest."

Nigel Farage agreed, and asked Iain whether he expected Mr Johnson to avoid answering the question.

Iain replied: "If I'd been him I would have addressed it in the opening speech because that would have made it much more difficult for me to then address it in the questions, it would have diffused the situation."

Watch above.