An Insulate Britain protester pulled a Piers Morgan and stormed off Good Morning Britain after clashing with host Richard Madeley about whether it is right for peaceful protesters to be jailed.
Liam Norton was invited onto the show to discuss Insulate Britain’s call for the government to act on home insulation. They have blocked the M25 five times over the past week.
Yesterday, the fifth time they tried to block the road, 38 people were taken into custody. This comes as police warn protesters that they put their lives and the lives of others in danger by this act.
Today’s injunction granted to the National Highways by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps means that activists could be imprisoned once the injunction takes effect.
On GMB, hosts Susanna Reid and Richard Madeley challenged Liam about the protests which led to an elderly woman being paralyzed from a stroke as a result of the roads being blocked, the woman’s son told LBC.
Dawn Neesom revealed that Liam had not installed insulation in his own home.
But Susanna wasn’t going to let this slide as she shared her shock at this revelation, and Liam then asked her if she was aware of the costs involved. “Just try not to be so patronizing when you’re speaking to me,” Susanna sounded calm.
However, it was Richard & Liam who were at odds with one another before the protester decided enough was sufficient. Liam got frustrated at the presenter talking over him and shouted: “Richard, it’s like I’m on repeat because you’re not listening!”
“I am listening and I agree with you,” Richard hit back. “Do you know how many MPs supported Winston Churchill in 1937? Six MPs supported him and Churchill was right wasn’t he?” Liam shouted.
“You’re comparing yourself to Winston Churchill?” Richard shouted back. “You’ve got your fingers in your ears, you just cannot see the reality of what you’re doing! We are talking about the future of our country, and the future of our economy and you keep talking about hypothetical situations,” Liam answered.
“We’re right, we’re right okay? Richard, we have been writing letters for 30 years, we’ve been writing petitions for 30 years, we’ve been pleading with our Government for 30 years!
“And what we’re saying to the Government is this: ‘this is our line in the sand!’”
Liam continued: “We are demanding that the Government make a meaningful statement to save the future of this country and if they refuse to do it then they can put us in prison and that’s the Home Secretary’s decision.”
It was at this point that Liam decided he was done with the debate, as he stood up from his chair shouted: “I’m fed up of speaking to people in this country.” This only amused Richard who laughed and said: “You’re gonna do a Piers!” (in reference to the time Piers Morgan infamously stormed off the show back in March).
GMB viewers appeared to support Norton’s walkout while berating Madeley for talking over the protester. Though some were not impressed with Norton’s interview at all. While some couldn’t help but compare it with Piers Morgan’s infamous GMB walk-out.
The hosts then headed over to Lorraine Kelly to see what was coming up on the program, and Lorraine couldn’t help but comment on the tense exchange that just happened. As Susanna greeted, Lorraine said: “Crikey,” in response to the incident.
“He lost the argument, didn’t he? As soon as he admitted he did not insulate his own property,” Lorraine added.
“Or, we are led to believe that. And when you walk out, you have lost the argument. You really have.
“It is such a shame, too, because it is so important.” She then defended Susanna and said: “But he has gone down this crazy rabbit hole – it is just so sad, and also he was so patronizing to you Susanna.
“So patronizing. I was shouting at the telly!” Susanna said: “The thing is, Lorraine. The crazy thing is that we all agree. We do. We all agree. “Especially on a week like this week, with rising fuel bills.”