“You’re just ranting now. You’re just talking to yourself, now, Richard. Why don’t you just interview yourself?"
Richard Madeley and Mick Lynch came to blows on Tuesday morning as the high-profile union boss appeared on Good Morning Britain.
Lynch, who serves as the general secretary of the UK's National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), was appearing on the ITV morning show as workers began fresh strike action.
RMT members will walk out on Tuesday (13 December) and Wednesday and again on Friday and Saturday of this week.
When Lynch appeared on Good Morning Britain on Tuesday to be interviewed by Madeley, he was challenged over the decision to go on strike during the festive period.
The interview saw Madeley repeatedly interrupt Lynch and talk at length in condemnation of the strikes, at one point telling the exasperated interviewee to “jog on”.
“Why couldn’t you have put all these strikes in January?” Madeley said. “Why do you have to target people at Christmas? You’ll be putting people out of business who run hotels, who run restaurants, who run bars, and retail.”
“Well, we’re not targeting Christmas,” Lynch replied. “It isn’t Christmas yet, Richard. I don’t know when your Christmas starts, but mine starts on Christmas Eve.”
Madeley then accused Lynch of being “disingenuous”, and “depriving people of their income”.
“You’re just ranting now,” Lynch responded. “You’re just talking to yourself, now, Richard. Why don’t you just interview yourself?”
You can watch the exchange below.
https://twitter.com/GMB/status/1602568493190234120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1602568493190234120%7Ctwgr%5E0cca93f2d7dafcee003c0591280ccb8d76c4b33a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fd-21150288943762546506.ampproject.net%2F2211250451000%2Fframe.html
Viewers were left angered by Madeley's behaviour and tone during the exchange, and accused the host of being "biased," "pathetic," and "rude."
"Watched
GMB for the first time in months. Richard Madeley totally lost the plot interviewing Mick Lynch. Has it been this bad? Don’t think I’ve seen such a biased interview,” one person wrote on Twitter.
“Seems like someone finally told Richard Madeley to stop talking to Mick Lynch after his pathetic meltdown. @GMB needs to get a grip and stop pedaling this agenda. Good luck to the train workers!” wrote another.
“If he spoke to me the way he spoke to Mick Lynch and told me to ‘jog on’ that's exactly what I would have done. So rude and unprofessional,” someone else wrote.
Another viewer joked: “How many times does Mick Lynch have to nutmeg Richard Madeley for the coach to make a substitution?”
“Richard Madeley needs to calm down and let other people speak. A lot of the public stand with the rail strikers and nurses etc,” someone else commented.
