The National:

BORIS Johnson’s reaction to a video posted online of a journalist being chased back to Downing Street by anti-lockdown protesters has caused an outcry online.

BBC Newsnight political editor Nick Watt had been covering the demonstration taking place outside No 10 when he became surrounded by an aggressive mob screaming “traitor!” in his face.

Watt fought his way through the crowds, breaking into a run and seeking safety back within the barricades set up around the entrances to Downing Street.

READ MORE: Anti lockdown-protesters condemned for harassing BBC journalist Nick Watt

After seeing the footage for himself, Johnson tweeted: “Disgraceful to see the hounding of Nick Watt doing his job.

“The media must be able to report the facts without fear or favour – they are the lifeblood of our democracy.”

Whilst his sentiment is true that the scenes were in fact “disgraceful”, the rest of Johnson’s message was met with disdain for being “hypocritical”.

Twitter users were quick to point to one of his many scandals – when Johnson was secretly recorded agreeing to give the address of a journalist to his friend Darius Guppy, who wanted to arrange a beating as a revenge for the reporter's work.

His track record on media transparency was highlighted too.

Perhaps these tweets will serve as a wake-up call to Johnson’s own disgraceful behaviour towards the media who – in his own Prime Ministerial words, after all – are the lifeblood of democracy.