Downing Street daily briefings will be televised solely ‘on merit’ warns the BBC and Sky News

Downing Street’s proposed daily briefings will be only televised ‘on merit’ warns the BBC and Sky News in what appears to be a snub to Boris Johnson.

THE PM intends to introduce daily press briefings from October, and Downing Street is reportedly in the process of hiring a £100,000-a-year (€112,000) political spokesman to who will be tasked with the job.

The aim is to replace the current off-camera afternoon briefing, though the morning version will continue, in an effort to communicate more directly with the public from a refurbished No 9 Downing Street.

But two of the main broadcasters have reportedly stated they will only televise the briefings if they feel they are newsworthy.

The Times reported that Sky News presenter, Kay Burley, told the Edinburgh Festival yesterday (Thursday, August 27) the briefings will be covered “on merit.”

She said “of course at Sky News we’ve got 24/7 air to fill, so we will cover those on merit.”

The veteran added that they “will not automatically carry that news conference every day” and pointed out it is a “two-way street. If they want to have that broadcast they need broadcasters to be on board.”

The same publication said fellow major UK broadcaster, the BBC, is believed to be taking a similar approach to televising the briefings.

Previous Downing Street coronavirus briefings attracted millions of viewers.