Good Morning Britain has come under fire after its presenters were accused of unfair and 'patronising' treatment towards a guest on the show. Richard Madeley was back at the helm of the ITV programme on Monday (April 11) alongside Ranvir Singh as they interviewed an activist about the recent oil protests.
During the show Miranda Whelehan, who is an activist for Just Stop Oil, appeared alongside journalist Lowri Turner to debate the effectiveness of the protests. This comes after Just Stop Oil activists dug an underground tunnel to block fuel tankers and forced a petrol station in the south to close this weekend, to which Home Secretary Priti Patel branded the protests 'selfish'.
Host Richard Madeley was in the midst of interviewing the young activist when viewers accused him of 'bullying'. The discussion quickly got heated when Miranda attempted to defend the actions of the campaign group, who are demanding the ceasing of all new oil licences in the UK.
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But as the activist tried to defend herself amid the serious issue of rising fuel costs, viewers accused Richard Madeley of 'patronising' Miranda as he turned to criticizing her clothes.
Reading out a GMB viewer's tweet, Richard said: "Everything these Stop Oil protesters wear or buy or eat is delivered or manufactured using oil and that includes the glue they use to stick themselves to the road with.
"What they're saying is that your protests by definition are massively imperfect. The clothes that you're wearing to some extent owe their existence to oil because they were taken in a car or a truck or a van to a shop.
"There are so many ways that oil impacts on your life as a protestor but you don't acknowledge that."
A shocked Miranda responded: "We are talking about crop failure by 2030, we are talking about people in this country right now in fuel poverty because of the prices of oil and you are talking about the clothes that I'm wearing, this is so serious."
Richard Madeley then went on to accuse the young activist of being a hypocrite, to which she said shaking her head: "If you want to talk about hypocrisy then look at the government that has pledged for net zero by 2050 and now they are looking at opening 42 new which will be releasing fossil fuels until 2050, which is a death sentence for my generation and for your children."
With Richard demanding an answer in response to her clothes, Miranda added: "How can we be talking about individual scale when we are asking the government to change so we as individuals no longer have to."
But as Ranvir Singh and Lowri Turner also shared their views about the protests, viewers took to Twitter to slam the show for bullying with 'three against one'.
"GMB have taken to bullying now... 3 on 1. I'm no fan of the protesters, but that was just really uncomfortable to watch," said one viewer.
"The bullying tactics used by #GMB against a women is disgusting, Ranvir Singh was the good cop with Richard Madeley leading the charge and Lowrie Turner following pompously as backup, the young lady stood no chance," wrote another.
"The attack of this young woman on #GMB is unacceptable. It is bullying plain and simple. Protest is a failure of politics. Our electoral system means major issues of great concern to people, go unaddressed and unchallenged. We need #ProportionalRepresentation. We need a voice," a third added.
"Absolutely disgusted with Richard Madeley's patronising attitude towards a young woman raising concerns about the climate emergency. We need a sensible debate about this issue. This discussion is trivializing this most serious issue," another agreed.
Another viewer tweeted Good Morning Britain directly to address the situation: "@GMB look at that hashtag and how many people agree that that interview was bullying. Get rid of Richard Madeley. It’s not good tv. It’s not informative or impartial. It’s uncomfortable."
