Susanna Reid tore a strip off Nigel Farage on live TV over his comment on the Southport stabbings which were followed by Far Right riots in the summer.
The Reform UK leader was hit with a backlash after he shared a video in which he questioned “whether the truth was being withheld from us” following the Southport killings of three children at the end of July.
In the video, he told his two million followers he had “one or two questions” as he speculated about whether the stabbing suspect was being monitored by the security services.
There were also false rumours that the attacker was a migrant who had recently arrived by “small boat” in Britain.
Good Morning Britain presenter Ms Reid challenged Mr Farage: “You have been criticised by a number of people, including by Conservative party leadership candidate Tom Tugendhat, for being irresponsible and dangerous.
“He accuses you of amplifying false information.
“You suggested, in a video, that police withheld the truth about the person alleged to be behind this tragedy.
“Let’s bear in mind that there is a legal process going on we don’t want to compromise.”
Appearing on the ITV show, Mr Farage interjected: “We always hide behind that.”
Ms Reid shot back: “That’s the rule of law in this country, that we don’t compromise someone’s fair trial and allow the families of those who have suffered to hear the truth.”
Mr Farage doubled down, saying: “We hide behind this again, again and again.”
He claimed senior legal figures were also arguing that the Government should have told “the truth” about the incident and that in general they “hide behind this idea” that a legal process means they are not able to be more open with the public.
But, shaking her head, Ms Reid said: “You repeated misinformation that the suspect was under surveillance. “You asked whether the truth is being withheld from us.”
The Reform leader maintained: “Of course it’s being withheld,” claiming it took a year for a senior doctor’s earlier warning about Nottingham killer Valdo Calocane to come to light.
However, Ms Reid said he was conflating two different events, adding on the Stockport case: “The truth is the suspect was not under surveillance.”
Fellow presenter Ed Balls piled into the criticism, accusing Mr Farage of fuelling the false rumours over the Southport attacker.
He stressed: “Nigel, now you are a Member of Parliament.”
Arguing that he needed to show more responsibility given that he was an MP, he added: “You can’t just behave like some pundit on some TV show.
“You are a Member of Parliament. You have to behave in a responsible way.”
The Reform leader insisted: “I was saying tell the truth, give the public information, and the problems will die down.”
But Ms Reid stepped in: “With power comes responsibility,” which he agreed with.
