Jon Snow and Zac Goldsmith clash on Channel Four News

Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith and Channel Four news anchor Jon Snow angrily clashed in a live television interview over allegations the Tory MP broke rules on election spending.

 

Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith and Channel Four news anchor Jon Snow angrily clashed in a live television interview about allegations the Tory MP broke rules on election spending. There was a firey exchange between the two figures on the 7pm news programme on Channel Four during which the two exchanged heated words. The argument stems from a report by Channel Four News and the Bureau for Investigative Journalism into Zac Goldsmith’s spending during the General Election. The report claimed that the MP broke the rules on spending as he was over the allowed limit – this allegation is denied by Goldsmith.

 

Zac Goldsmith is the Conservative MP for Richmond Park and during his interview on Channel Four news he warned Snow to “Watch it” and accused the anchor of telling viewers “deliberate and outrageous lies”. Snow responded by telling the MP if he had a problem with Channel Four news to take it up with Ofcom, the media regulator. If Goldsmith doesn’t follow that course some viewers may – as Adam Boulton of Sky News knows only too well.

 

The Sky News correspondent was at the centre of two incidents in which viewers complained to Ofcom. The first was over alleged heckling of Nick Clegg during the Second Leaders Debate – which was hosted on Sky. The second incident took place during the weekend after the election in which it was unclear who would govern the country. Over the weekend the Liberal Democrats met with both Tory and Labour representatives. In a live interview with Alistair Campbell, the former spin Doctor for Labour, Boulton lost his cool after Campbell accused him of wanting Cameron as Prime Minister. Viewers felt the clash between Campbell and Boulton on-air broke impartiality rules. However, despite over a thousand complaints, combined, over the two incidents Ofcom cleared Sky and Boulton.

 

Goldsmith informed Snow that it was up to the Electoral Commission to decide whether or not to investigate his spending during the election.