Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson was cut off live on air by infuriated broadcaster Richard Madeley for not giving “straight answers”.
The veteran TV host pulled the plug on his interview with the senior Tory after he challenged him over the Salisbury poisoning case.
After asking him three times whether he regretted having told Russia to “shut up and go away” in the aftermath of the attack, the Good Morning Britain presenter suddenly announced “interview terminated”, adding it would be “helpful if you answered a straight question with a straight answer.”
Mr Madeley, who was standing in for Piers Morgan, said: “Do you regret telling Russia to “shut up and go away”? Mr Williamson please answer the question.”
Mr Williamson replied: “I think what everyone saw is Russia’s actions against our citizens in a city here in the United Kingdom...”
“You’re telling us what we know,” Mr Madeley, 62, interrupted. “We know what happened. We know what happened in Salisbury...the question is...I’ll try it one more time ... do you regret using very casual Trump-esque language like “shut up and go away”?
Mr Williamson said: “Well what was right is actually we came together with our allies...”
“Okay, alright. Alright. Interview terminated because you won’t answer the question,” Mr Madeley said before crossing through a list of interview questions.
Turning to viewers he said: “It would have been so easy to have said ‘no I don’t’, ‘I think it was an appropriate expression’ or to say ‘on reflection I should have been a bit more formal’. Easy.”
Mr Williamson, 41, was derided when he told reporters in March this year how Moscow should “go away and shut up” after they had criticised the expulsions of diplomats after the Salisbury attack and comparisons were made to a new Cold War.
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Yulia Skripal, 33, and her former Russian spy father Sergei, 66, were poisoned with a nerve agent on March 4 in the Wiltshire city and the incident sparked a major diplomatic row with Russia.
Mr Williamson took part in this morning’s interview live from an enclosure at West Midland Safari Park. He was there to announce a new anti-poaching initiative with Malawi.
Wearing a checked shirt and suit jacket, the Secretary of State was joined by a number of elephants who wandered into shot during his car crash breakfast TV interview.
He is the youngest ever defence secretary and was previously Theresa May’s chief whip, where he was known to keep his pet tarantula Cronus on his desk in a glass tank.
