Jon Snow yesterday denied he had ever said ‘f*** the Tories’ as he hailed his own ‘precious’ impartiality as a journalist.
The veteran Channel 4 newsreader said he was ‘pretty certain’ he had never sung the foul-mouthed chant because it is not a sentiment he shares.
‘I’m pretty certain I never said it and it’s not something I would say and it’s not something I believe,’ he told the Edinburgh TV Festival.
Mr Snow had been accused of breaking impartiality rules earlier in the summer by chanting ‘f*** the Tories’ at the Glastonbury festival.
In an interview with the Scottish Conservative Leader Ruth Davison, Snow (pictured) said that the Glastonbury row had to be taken within the context of the ‘melee’, ‘noise’ and substance use of a music festival
He later claimed that he had no recollection of the incident.
But yesterday he went further, as he tried to fend off growing concern that his overtly left-wing views undermine his position as a news broadcaster.
In an interview with the Scottish Conservative Leader Ruth Davison, he said that the Glastonbury row had to be taken within the context of the ‘melee’, ‘noise’ and substance use of a music festival.
‘I said I had absolutely no recollection and I still have absolutely no recollection. [Glastonbury] is an utterly wonderful experience.
‘It is A) magnificently noisy, and B) full of all sorts of substances. And worse than that, if you have a face that is recognisable, you get subjected to endless selfies,’ he said.
‘What worried me is that…just suppose there was a group of people around me, who were actually shouting it – I didn’t hear it – but let’s suppose there was and I was going ‘Argh!’. Well, what are you going ‘Argh!’ to? I’ve no idea, absolutely no idea.
‘So I think you have to view where I am and the kind of melee that there is when these things happen.’
Miss Davidson was dissatisfied with his explanation, suggesting that he would not accept that sort of answer from politician on his programme.
Speaking with obvious sarcasm, she said: ‘You would take that as an acceptable answer [from a politician] and wouldn’t want to press them, would you?’
Snow’s comments come after he was accused of chanting ‘f*** the Tories’ at Glastonbury (pictured)
Meanwhile, Mr Snow, 69, also insisted yesterday that he is impartial, and heaped praise upon Ofcom rules which demand that news presenters are unbiased.
‘I think impartiality is a very, very precious entity in our media and I’m grateful for the fact that we do have a regulated broadcasting system and that you and I are impartial,’ he said on Radio 4’s Today programme, in an interview with Nick Robinson.
Mr Snow has come under fresh scrutiny this week, after he finally admitted that he belongs to a metropolitan ‘elite’ that is out of touch with public feeling.
The Channel 4 news anchor said on Wednesday that he had ‘got it wrong’ on Brexit, and that he was ‘comfortably with the elite’, with ‘little awareness’ of people who are not part of the same club.’
‘Over this past year, we – me included – mostly London-based media pundits, pollsters and so-called experts got it wrong.
‘The Brexit referendum, we got that wrong. Trump defied completely more so-called experts, pundits and journalists alike,’ he said.
But yesterday, he tried to share the blame with Miss Davidson insisting that she has become part of the elite.
The Scottish MP, who is a former war journalist, was quick to reject the accusation.
‘Some of us didn’t have parents that went to Winchester,’ she noted.
But – in an embarrassing episode – Mr Snow insisted: ‘Come on baby, you are [part of the elite] now,’ he said.
Miss Davidson, who has also served as a colonel in the Territorial Army, was quick to pull him up on the remark. ‘Did you just call me baby?’ she said.
The controversial Glastonbury episode came to light after a Twitter user posted a photograph of Mr Snow partying at music festival, alongside the caption: ‘Having a dance with Jon Snow and hearing him shout f*** the Tories is what dreams are made of.’
The 69-year old allegedly told Glastonbury revellers: ‘I’m supposed to be neutral’ after his comment about the Conservative party.
Mr Snow was given a dressing down by Channel 4 bosses over the episode, and Tory MPs called for the presenter to be sacked.