Martin Clunes called the government a “s**** storm” on live TV, prompting Phillip Schofield to apologise.
Clunes appeared on This Morning to promote his new detective drama Manhunt, before going on to criticise the government.
In the drama, he plays DCI Colin Sutton as he investigates the serial killer Levi Bellfield, who murdered Milly Dowler, Marsha McDonnell and Amélie Delagrange.
He said the role had “opened his eyes” to the work the police do and “how many people and how much energy there is on [the force]”.
He added: “We thought it was a good time maybe to tell that story.
“I was playing the SIO [senior investigating officer], and I didn’t know what that was so I wanted to see how the rest of the team were towards him, and how he was towards them.
“We filled our boots and you just come away thinking: ‘Thank God we’ve got a police force.’
“But we won’t have if this current s**** storm of a government have their way.”
Schofield quickly apologised to viewers.
People expressed their support for Clunes’ criticism of the government.
“We salute you Martin Clunes,” one twitter user said.
Another wrote: “Martin Clunes has just become the voice of the people.”
