The BBC host told the MP she had repeated herself “three times”.
BBC presenter Laura Kuenssberg welcomed Labour MP Bridget Phillipson onto her self-titled show on Sunday (March 29) to discuss a manner of things, including fuel prices as Laura prodded the MP for a plan from the government. She asked to start on the war and discussed the potential warning of fuel shortages, prompting Phillipson to state that it was “really important” to stress that production and supply were both being maintained. She added: “You’ll have to take my word for it,” and continued that people should “carry on as usual” but that the government should always plan for contingencies.
However, she wanted to reassure people to carry on as usual. Laura questioned once again what the plan was, because it “is a possibility” and referenced that major businesses had warned that it could be a possibility. Laura said: “Nobody wants this but what is the plan for eventual shortages?”
Bridget Phillipson repeated her statement (Image: BBC)
Phillipson stated that the government does plan and stated that she wanted to reiterate that people should carry on as normal and continue making their usual journeys. Laura hit back once more and said: “And you’ve said that already. But there are widespread warnings about what might happen in the months to come. There’s no sign of this war coming to an end anytime soon. So what is the plan if there are shortages?”
The MP stated again that it was important that people were reassured that the situation Laura was asking about was not the current situation that is being faced in the UK. The host then responded: “That’s true but you’ve said that three times.”
She continued: “We shouldn’t engage in scaring people,” before talking about the cost of living pressures and avoiding Laura’s key question about what plan would be in place for fuel prices rising.
People took to X to share their frustration at the avoidance of questioning as one user wrote: “Answer the f*****g question… we will carry on but what happens if we can’t carry on as normal? What’s the plan if fuel shortages start to happen? How the f*** did we get on to free school meals from a fuel shortage question?”
Another fumed: “Will you just answer the question?”
Laura stated again that there could be issues that people face and continued to question the MP, and asked if she was saying that people have “nothing to worry about”, with the MP stating that there could be challenges coming up, but that things will be constantly reviewed.