Piers Morgan has branded the government a “bunch of gutless little weasels” as the apparent ban on officials appearing on Good Morning Britain nears its 200th day.
Earlier this year, Piers claimed that there was a government ban which forbade ministers from appears on the ITV breakfast show, after he won praise for his no-nonsense interviews with several MPs at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking on Tuesday’s show, the divisive presenter spoke of the news that a vaccine currently being trialled has been 90% effective in preventing Covid-19 in tests, and the fact no ministers had been interviewed on GMB in 196 days.
“We have asked the government if they will put a minister up on Good Morning Britain, for interview about the biggest health crisis we’ve faced since 1918,” Piers said.
“And each time the answer comes back, ‘no, we don’t have anybody from the government who will talk to your viewers and inform them about the health crisis’.”
“Well, I have a view,” he continued. “I think they’re a bunch of gutless little weasels. I’m sure you have a similar view now, Good Morning Britain viewers.”
Piers added: “It doesn’t harm us. Our ratings have gone ever higher without the government ministers, in fact the one thing that worries me about getting them back is they may have a devastating effect on our viewership. Because most of them [the government ministers] are so clueless.
“But you know what? They have a democratic duty to talk to this programme as they do to talk to every programme. And it is really scandalous that we’re approaching 200 days of the entire government boycotting the main commercial breakfast TV show.
“And if you care about democracy, you should be as incensed about this as we are. And frankly, if they can’t cope with a fiery, passionate interrogation about this kind of story, this kind of crisis, why would we trust them to run the country? Because that’s one of the problems, they can’t even cope with an interview. They can’t even cope with people like me, raising our voices.”
Co-presenter Susanna Reid then interjected: “Look, government. If I can cope with Piers Morgan raising his voice, and I do it pretty much every morning, you can cope with it.”
As Piers branded the government “pathetic”, Susanna added: “[This is] a dereliction of your democratic duty. I find it extraordinary that on a day when you can talk about good news [they still won’t come on Good Morning Britain].”
Later in the show, a reporter was able to corner health secretary Matt Hancock outside of the BBC to ask about the latest development.
However, Hancock refused to commit to a studio interview, despite answering questions put to him on the spot.
Last week, Piers and Susanna made headlines when they tore into Boris Johnson, suggesting the prime minister had “dithered” when it came to reintroducing lockdown measures.
“The big question now is, how many people are going to die now, in the next few weeks, again, unnecessarily, because this prime minister dithered and delayed and got torn [between] all sides of this debate and couldn’t make a damn decision?” Piers said.
Good Morning Britain airs every weekday from 6am.