Good Morning Britain has been hit with a number of Ofcom complaints after Richard Madeley grilled a climate activist in a heated live debate on Monday’s instalment of the ITV morning programme.
The 65-year-old TV presenter did not hold back as he interviewed Just Stop Oil protester Miranda Whelehan in the studio alongside Ranvir Singh in the wake of petrol pump protests over the weekend.
The ITV programme received 59 complaints as a result of the interview, which saw him label the group’s slogan “quite childish” and claim the programme hadn't had a single message of support for the protests.
Richard began the discussion by saying to Miranda: “Many people would agree that we have to wean ourselves off oil, we have to wean ourselves off fossil fuels, we have to develop renewables, I certainly feel that.
“But at the same time they deeply resent having their personal lives massively interrupted by the actions of people like you. Do you accept that you're possibly alienating people who, in a general sense, would support your background cause?” he asked.
Richard continued: “But you’d accept, wouldn’t you, that it’s a very complicated discussion to be had, it’s a very complicated thing.
“And this ‘Just Stop Oil’ slogan is very playground-ish isn’t it, it’s very Vicky Pollard, quite childish.
"‘Just Stop Oil’, come on, there’s more to say than that isn’t there?”
Miranda looked quite stunned at Richard's comments as she replied: "I would say that the answers are actually very simple. We need to stop new oil licensing and that's what we're asking.
"With the oil reserves that we have now and the oil fields that we have that are still going, that would provide us with eight years of oil, if we said no to new oil and that's what we're asking for."
Richard then said: “How do the blockades advance that argument? They don’t, do they, they simply cause nothing but disruption and you get a negative reaction.”
Richard then said that the ITV programme had received nothing but “furious complaints” from the viewers watching the programme, with no messages of support.
The activist ignored this criticism, and instead pointed to the recent IPCC findings from this year which urged countries to give up using fossil fuels.
ITV viewers were divided over Richard's interview approach in the heated GMB exchange, with many labelling the presenter "savage" and "patronising."
Taking to Twitter, one wrote: "What a wonderful inspiration to us and the younger generation is that young woman, having to deal with the smug and frankly insulting questioning from Richard Madeley."
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV and ITV hub.
