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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Entertainment
Jessica Sansome

This Morning's Phillip Schofield under fire for 'disrespectful' question to Matt Hancock

Phillip Schofield has come under fire for a question he asked Matt Hancock during a recent interview.

The former health secretary appeared on This Morning on Tuesday where he spoke to the presenter and his co-host Holly Willoughby.

Mr Hancock, who resigned from his position in June after admitting to breaching Covid-19 restrictions, appeared on the ITV programme before introducing a Dyslexia Screening Bill in the House of Commons.

He is calling for all children to be screened for dyslexia before they leave primary school.

READ MORE: Phillip Schofield laughs as he makes 'genius' dig at Piers Morgan on This Morning

The interview, however, did take a 'savage' turn when Phillip questioned whether Mr Hancock broke social distancing rules because of his dyslexia.

"Was it your dyslexia that meant you misread the social distancing rules?" Phillip, 59, asked.

He replied: "No, I can’t blame that on dyslexia or anything else. In fact, I am not asking for any special favours because I am dyslexic.

"In politics I have got some things to offer. In that case, that was a mistake and I have apologised for it.

The former health secretary appeared on This Morning (ITV)

"It was a failure of leadership because I came on shows like this and asked people to do things and I didn’t follow those rules myself."

This Morning viewers were quick to flock to social media after being gobsmacked by the remark.

While some branded it 'savage' and 'the best question', there felt that it was mocking the condition.

@melanie_c_to_be tweeted: "Jesus this is stooping very low @Schofe #ThisMorning."

"As a dyslexic, it’s not ok to make jokes about our disability @Schofe #Dyslexia #ThisMorning #Disability," @benhowlettuk commented.

Matt Hancock was talking about his own dyslexia (ITV)

@Clajak1807 fumed: "So #PhilipSchofield thinks #Dyslexia is something to make fun of with @MattHancock. Seriously not funny Philip. Maybe it's time you grew up. Your childishness on #ThisMorning is wearing thin."

"'Was it your dyslexia that made you break the covid rules?'....Really Phillip?...really? @thismorning Say what you like about Matt Hancock but that question was incredibly disrespectful to anyone with dyslexia! #ThisMorning #phillipschofield," @The_GLL_house argued.

The Manchester Evening News had contacted ITV for comment.

During the interview, Holly, who has spoken about her dyslexia in the past, said that she is "proud of being dyslexic."

"I think it's one of my favourite things about me because I think it brings a unique skill set, I really do," Holly said on the show.

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