Fiona Bruce was forced to break things up on last night's BBC Question Time when the Secretary of State for Transport clashed with Andy Burnham in a heated debate over Christmas rail strikes.
Tensions flared in the studio in Skipton on Thursday evening after Tory MP Richard Holden responded angrily to the Mayor of Greater Manchester's emotional plea on pay rises for public sector workers.
The transport minister had earlier in the show branded the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers union (RMT) as "putting the country on a precipice" following their announcement of a new wave of train strikes in the run-up to Christmas.
Answering a question on whether the union's decision had "destroyed" the festive period, Andy Burnham instead pointed out the government's refusal to sit down and talk, saying: "What I find hard to understand is why ministers haven’t been sitting down with the key unions representing workers through the months across the piece and negotiating."
"We have heard today from Mick Lynch that the previous transport minister wouldn't talk to him."
He then turned his attention to the transport minister sat across from him, commenting: "Richard [Holden] said the RMT had been aggressive - they called off strikes a couple of weeks ago because there had been some progress.
"But when there is no progress and train operators say 'we can't do it', only the government can sort it out the deal, no wonder they have to try and move things on."
"I would say, don't blame people who are fighting for their family income... If the government lets nurses, paramedics, firefighters go out on strike, that is a serious risk to us all so I would say they deserve a fair pay rise - get behind them and give them a fair pay rise now."
The comments sparked a dismissive response from the minister, who said the industrial action would "cripple" small businesses during the crucial festive period by causing disruption to customers.
The pair then ended up speaking at the same time following a rapid back-and-forth discussion before host Fiona Bruce held up her arms and exclaimed "Whoa, whoa, don't talk over each other!" - to which the Tory minister sheepishly responded "I wasn't!".
The pair clashed again a few minutes later as the panel fielded more questions on the same topic, with Mr Burnham responding to a barb from Mr Holden telling him to "have a word with your mates in the unions" by saying: "How about you do it? You are a transport minister!"
Other panel members on Thursday's episode of the long-running show included Charlotte Ivers, political correspondent at Times Radio, former Brexit MEP Ben Habib and musician Darren McGarvey.
