Viewers of ITV's Good Morning Britain are demanding that Richard Madeley is sacked by bosses, following controversial remarks about leader of the opposition, Sir Keir Starmer.
At the top of yesterday's programme (February 16), Madeley addressed his contentious questioning of the death threats Starmer has been receiving. This comes following Boris Johnson's claim that, during Starmer's time as director of public prosecutions, he had failed to prosecute Jimmy Savile.
An investigation into the Prime Minister's comments has been launched, and on Tuesday (February 15, Madeley spoke about the death threats that have been sent to the Labour leader. Also on the show were Madeley's co-host Ranvir Singh, consultant editor of the Daily Mail Andrew Pierce, and associate editor at the Daily Mirror, Kevin Maguire.
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As the four discussed the headlines of the day, Madeley came under fire from viewers after responding to the Starmer story by saying: "Politicians get that all the time". Viewers of the show were quick to express their disappointment and anger towards Madeley.
Political commentator Edward Hardy said: "Four months after Sir David Amess was murdered at a constituency surgery, Richard Madeley questioned on Good Morning Britain whether Keir Starmer receiving death threats 'is that big a deal'".
Meanwhile, Pete Timmins said: "Richard Madeley asks "Are death threats against Keir Starmer really a big deal? Two MPs have been murdered, he needs kicking off #GMB for such a crass comment."
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Yesterday, Madeley began the programme by clarifying his remark on Tuesday's show.
The 65-year-old said: "It was a really busy show yesterday, we had so much to do. I want to say one thing very quickly at the top here. I tried to pose a question in one of our earlier discussions in the programme about how prolific online death threats are.
"I didn't actually quite address it properly, I didn't go into it enough. I just want to reiterate the obvious statement that death threats clearly are never acceptable."
On Monday (February 14), Sir Keir Starmer confirmed that he had received death threats following the Prime Minister's false claim regarding Jimmy Savile. When asked if he had received such threats, Starmer said: "Yes. I do not like talking about this because I have got young children.”
He told BBC Radio Newcastle: “It’s very important for me to say that what the Prime Minister said was wrong, it was very wrong. He knew exactly what he was doing.
“There has been a right-wing conspiracy theory for some time that’s a complete fabrication. He fed into that, and that has caused difficulty, but my preference, if I may, is not to talk about that because, as I say, I have got young children and I don’t particularly want them to hear too much of what may or may not be said about me.”
Shortly after making the claim, the Prime Minister made an attempt at clarifying what he meant. Speaking to broadcasters, Johnson said: "I want to be very clear about this because a lot of people have got very hot under the collar, and I understand why.
“Let’s be absolutely clear, I’m talking not about the Leader of the Opposition’s personal record when he was DPP and I totally understand that he had nothing to do personally with those decisions.
“I was making a point about his responsibility for the organisation as a whole. I really do want to clarify that because it is important.”
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