NEWSNIGHT presenter Emily Maitlis has pulled out of a York event scheduled for today (Tuesday) - just days after sparking thousands of complaints over coverage of the Dominic Cummings story.

Ms Maitlis had been due to take part in the York Festival of Ideas, which has gone completely online this year.

At the event, entitled Imperfect Art of Making News, the Newsnight host was set to talk with FT journalist Isabel Berwick about “the fine art – and often chaotic result – of the interview”.

But Ms Maitlis has now withdrawn due to “pressure of work”.

The decision follows her controversial introduction to a Newsnight report on Dominic Cummings’ travel during lockdown. Ms Maitlis said the Prime Minister’s aide “broke the rules – the country can see that and it’s shocked the government cannot”.

Her remarks attracted 40,000 complaints to the BBC – split 50/50 between those who felt she had broken impartiality rules, and those angry at the BBC censuring the presenter.

A BBC statement said: “We feel that we should have done more to make clear the introduction was a summary of the questions we would examine, with all the accompanying evidence, in the rest of the programme."