Nick Robinson has hit back at accusations of BBC bias in its coverage of Downing Street “partygate”, saying it would be “absurd” to play down the story.

       The presenter of Radio 4’s Today programme was responding to an accusation by Lord Moore that the BBC had acted like “a Fox News of the Left” by interviewing Tory MPs hostile to Boris Johnson.

       Lord Moore, in his Telegraph column, said that BBC audiences “crave news that is calm, balanced and correctly prioritised”, and suggested that the corporation should “not try to ape Fleet Street” by focusing on the scandal of Downing Street parties.

       In a letter to the Telegraph, Mr Robinson said: “Clearly, we should report the parties story… hearing from those who defend the PM and challenging them as well as those who attack him and pointing out that this may not lead to his departure from office. We have done that.

       “However, the idea that the BBC alone should play down or ignore the crisis which has led Conservative MPs - both Brexit allies as well as lifelong enemies of Johnson’s - to call on their leader to quit is absurd.”

       He added: “When as BBC political editor I reported night after night on the loans for honours scandal which damaged Tony Blair or, as presenter of Today, on Theresa May’s fight over Brexit with her own backbenchers, or Jeremy Corbyn’s battles over antisemitism, I heard no such call for ‘super impartiality’ from Lord Moore. I wonder why not?”

       Mr Robinson also pointed out that it was ITV News “who have, to their credit, made the running on this story” by breaking a string of exclusives, including an email in which the Prime Minister’s principal private secretary invited more than 100 Downing Street staffers to a “bring your own booze” party.