Richard Madeley was accused of 'prejudice' as he interviewed one of Good Morning Britain's latest guests. The presenter was back at the helm of the ITV news programme on Monday (October 17) alongside Susanna Reid.
The hosting pair were joined by Tory MP Sir Christopher Chope live on the latest show via video link as it is thought that Liz Truss could 'only have days left' as the Prime Minister. The beleaguered Conservative Party leader has battled on for several weeks now after the disastrous mini-budget.
The mini-budget, and its quick u-turn, ultimately saw Kwasi Kwarteng lose his job just weeks into the role on Friday (October 14) and Jeremy Hunt was installed as his successor as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Today (Monday), Mr Hunt is set to make an emergency economic statement in an attempt to stabilise the markets.
But when Sir Christopher claimed on GMB that the Prime Minister has shown she’s in control, through such decisions as firing Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, Richard asked: "How can you possibly say Liz Truss is in charge when she’s had to sack her Chancellor and appoint another Chancellor who has, step by step, demolished everything that she said she stood for in the campaign that won her the leadership?
"Virtually every single central plank of her political and economic thinking has been quietly and efficiently dismantled by that man that she’s appointed. How can you say she’s in charge?"
But Sir Christopher hit back: "Richard, I’m sorry, it’s a bit early in the morning to engage in insults but I must say, the very nature of your question demonstrates your deep-held prejudice against Liz Truss and the new Conservative government and I’m very sorry about that."
Not taking the comments from Sir Christopher, who appeared live via video link from Christchurch, Richard, 62, responded: "You’re joking. I have no prejudice against Liz Truss." But Sir Christopher later accused Richard of "sniping at the Prime Minister and undermining her authority."
But Richard clapped back: "I’m not gonna spend too much airtime defending myself because I don’t care, I’m used to being attacked from various quarters but I can assure you, you’ll just have to take my word for this, but what I said about Liz Truss was a journalistic statement. It really wasn’t personal prejudice."
He added: "I feel rather sorry for her to be honest with you. What I’m trying to challenge you on is your statement that she’s in charge. That’s not a personal prejudicial question, it’s a statement of fact that she’s clearly completely lost control."
And it wasn't just Richard who was on the receiving end of Sir Christopher's rath as Susanna also got ticked off for interrupting him. The MP wa speaking as Susanna tried to ask another question and he hit back at her for "interrupting" him, as he said: "I don't understand how we can both speak at the same time as that's very difficult on a programme so please don't keep interrupting me and I won't interrupt you."
GMB viewers were soon commenting on oscial media, begging for the 'car crash interview' to end. @lotslottie16 tweeted: "This is a car crash of an interview. How deluded can one be? #GMB." @manxben4 echoed: "Sir Christopher Chope, absolute car crash of an interview #GMB." @BarrBims added: "Car crash interview SIR...a classic example of how to defend the indefensible."
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