This Morning viewers have branded Pimlico Plumbers boss Charlie Mullins "a joke" after he suggested furloughed workers are "milking the system" on This Morning.
Thousands of workers were put on furlough at the end of March as the nation was plunged into lockdown amid the coronavirus crisis.
The 67-year-old appeared via video link from Marbella alongside hosts Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford to discuss the furlough scheme as Chancellor Rishi Sunak extends the scheme until October - as you can see in the video above.
The controversial CEO was on the show defending his decision to allegedly sack members of his staff for wanting to stay on furlough after his company stopped using the Government scheme.
"We can't sack anyone for being on furlough and that's not what we've done," Mullins explained.
"We had a situation where a lot of people don't want to come back to work because they're comfortable at home...for all the reasons they're happy to stay at home.
"And I think they've been milking the system and I'm saying 'times' up'; I think we need to put this behind us and get people back into the workplace.
"I'm not going to start paying their National Insurance or pension contributions and I just feel it's the wrong way to go about it, so we've pulled the plug on it completely."
Mullins continued from his holiday, from his luxury villa: "The problem for some people is that their is office is too far away from the beach!
"We need to stop this stupid culture of people thinking they can sit at home and get paid for it."
This Morning viewers were quick to take to social media to blast his controversial statements.
"Charlie Mullins, what a joke. He is the biggest contradiction there is. There was no justification in what he was saying. The furlough scheme gives companies options to figure out what works for their business. Companies who are flexible with employees will reap the rewards," tweeted one viewer.
Another added: "My husband has worked from home for 4mths- 40-50hrs a week min. Certainly no holiday!! It’s very insulting to say all people are sitting at home watching T.V"
A third viewer branded him a hypocrite: "Some of us have no choice about being furloughed, it’s our employers making that decision every month. Why doesn’t Charlie Mullins help the economy by holidaying in the Uk. Such a hypocrite!!"
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1.
