Many parents working from home during the national lockdown have grown accustomed to their children interrupting virtual work meetings, but most don’t have it happen during a live news interview. Anneliese Dodds, the newly appointed shadow chancellor, was interrupted by her daughter while speaking to Kay Burley on Sky News on Monday morning.
Dodds, who was given the shadow cabinet role by the new Labour leader, Keir Starmer, on Sunday, had been discussing the economic impact of the coronavirus lockdown when her three-year-old daughter, Isabella, strolled in. She said: “We need to get to the best possible situation for dealing with the virus and then ensuring we have that economic support there for businesses and individuals that they need at this time.” As Isabella walked through the door to the room and stood next to her mother, Burley said: “Somebody wants to come and say hello to you while you’re on the telly. We’ve seen this before haven’t we … she’s welcome any time on the programme.” “I thought she was going to stay asleep, sorry … so embarrassing,” Dodds said, when asked about the moment at the interview’s close. “She’s thankfully under the chair now.” The clip is reminiscent of the viral TV moment when Prof Robert Kelly’s two small children interrupted his comments on South Korean politics during a live BBC News interview. The clip has since been watched more than 37m times on the broadcaster’s YouTube channel. Dodds is the MP for Oxford East. She and her partner, Ed Turner, also have a six-year-old, Freddie, according to a Facebook post she created after last December’s general election. While speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain during another remote interview on Monday, Dodds said it was critical that the government began working on a way out of the economic shutdown immediately.
“I think it’s critical that the government look at that economic exit strategy now because it will take some time to plan. I really hope also they will be working closely with other countries on this because we will need to have a global boost,” she said. Dodds said she would speak to her counterpart in government, Rishi Sunak, later on Monday as she stressed the importance of working with the Conservatives during the pandemic.