Good Morning Britain host Ed Balls clashed with a show guest on Tuesday, as he challenged their thoughts over the disruption caused by the Just Stop Oil protests.
The activist group has caused a number of disruptions to busy roads during protests, while they have also vandalised buildings and galleries with orange paint.
On GMB on Tuesday, Ed and co-host Susanna Reid challenged the impact the protests were having by delaying urgent medical help for those that may need it.
With protestors sitting in the roads and blocking traffic, Susanna argued that they could be halting urgent help needed for someone travelling by car to a hospital.
She asked GP Dr Patrick Hart, who is a Just Stop Oil spokesperson, how he felt about the possible delay in medical help, being in the medical profession himself.
As his priorities were questioned, Patrick revealed he and the group did make way for ambulances if there blue lights were on, causing Susanna to ask about people not in ambulances who were trying to race injured or sick people to hospital.
As he revealed many people in the medical profession took part in the disruptions, Patrick said to the hosts: "I ask you to think why would doctors, nurses and paramedics be sat in the road causing this disruption..."
Susanna interrupted: "Causing this harm to many people..."
Patrick went on: "What is it that we've identified which justifies those actions, and make no mistake the issue here is that the climate crisis is killing people right now.
"This isn't about missed appointments, this is about people dying right now."
Susanna asked: "So you're more concerned about a group of people and the planet than you are about individuals suffering harm as a result of the protests?"
Patrick replied: "I have worked in places where people are suffering droughts, they have lost crops, they are malnourished. I've worked trying to treat malnourished children, I've watched them die, I've told mothers their children have died.
"You're desperate to talk about missed appointments and you're not interested in talking about the actual issue which is people are dying right now."
Susanna then asked: "Where is the priority and what should someone driving do? I think a lot of people in that situation would consider they have a right to remove the protestor."
Ed then had his say, and things got heated as the guest host slammed Patrick for calling the government "criminal", and taking "the law into his own hands".
He said: "Well, Patrick doesn't accept the rule of law anyway, Just Stop Oil says, 'This afternoon 61 ordinary people chose to take direct action against our criminal government'.
"So you think the government is criminal. You think by definition the government can't be fair or just or right because it's criminal. So therefore, you're a GP, you don't really accept we live in a democracy.
"Therefore you are willing to take the law into your own hands whatever the consequences for individuals, that's your view."
The GP responded: "It's not my view, the fact is..." with Ed replying: "The fact is the government is criminal?"
Patrick went on: "Absolutely, our government has a basic duty to look after our security and they are failing to do that. They are insuring people die today and our futures and everything we love will be destroyed."
Ed then hit back: "We have courts, courts to enforce the law, not you. You are a GP, you are not bigger than the law, you are not bigger than the courts.
"The idea that you should decide who's criminal and who's not, the government is criminal, we won't obey the law, we won't accept the courts, is absolutely outrageous."
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV and ITV Hub.
