Piers Morgan has been cleared by TV watchdog Ofcom for his ‘combative’ interviews with government ministers that he claims are helping ‘fewer people die’ amid the coronavirus outbreak.
The Good Morning Britain host, 55, attracted more than 3,000 complaints from two interviews with care minister Helen Whately earlier this month.
Almost 600 viewers also complained about another interview with Health Secretary Matt Hancock on April 16.
Piers Morgan said today of his clearing: ‘I want our government to succeed. We do this challenging everyday with ministers to help them make better decisions, so that fewer people die’
However, Ofcom today announced: ‘It is clearly in the public interest that broadcasters are able to hold those making political decisions to account.’
Piers grilled Ms Whately about the number of NHS and care workers who have so far died from Covid-19 and accused her of ‘massively understating’ the effects of the virus.
Ofcom today announced: ‘It is clearly in the public interest that broadcasters are able to hold those making political decisions to account’
In the interview Ms Whately claimed that 76 NHS and care workers had died from the disease, to which Piers retorted: ‘You see these numbers again, are completely wrong.
‘The real figure of all the people who work in the NHS and care homes who have died is actually 111.’
On Good Morning Britain today Piers said of the watchdog investigation: ‘They have not held up any of the complaints. I’m glad about that.
‘Freedom of speech matters and journalists doing their job matters. Getting the government to think about every decision they are taking matters, holding them to account matters.
‘We do our job they do theirs. But we are all on the same side here and we shouldn’t mistake challenging government’s with wanting government to fail.
‘I want our government to succeed. We do this challenging everyday with ministers to help them make better decisions, so that fewer people die.
‘We are on the same side against the same enemy. It’s not a referendum, its not an election, its one virus against the world.’
Almost 600 viewers also complained about another interview with Health Secretary Matt Hancock on April 16
Health Secretary Matt Hancock was challenged by the MailOnline columnist on whether he would volunteer for a salary reduction during an interview on ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
During the exchange on April 16, Morgan was also angered when Mr Hancock claimed the Government was prepared for the pandemic, telling the politician: ‘Stop playing that game with me, Mr Hancock. You’re buying yourself a bit of time.’
Morgan said he would have ‘admired’ Mr Hancock more if he would have just admitted that the Department of Health ‘had not been prepared’ for the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on the National Health Service.
He added: ‘Your resolute refusal to concede you made any mistakes here grates with me and misjudges the public mood’.
Piers wrote on Twitter to announce he had been ’emphatically cleared’ by the watchdog
The pair continued to clash as Morgan chastised Mr Hancock, reminding him that he runs the show after Mr Hancock urged him to ‘let him speak’, during the interview.
It comes as Piers Morgan today called the PPE scandal unveiled by the BBC’s Panorama last night a ‘national disgrace’ and accused Safeguarding minister Victoria Atkins of laughing when he was interviewing her.
Morgan asked Ms Atkins why the UK had downgraded Covid-19 from HCID, which is the high consequence infectious category.
The minister then appeared to smirk and said: ‘I am not a scientist Piers.’
He interjected: ‘Well you can laugh. I don’t know why you all keeping laughing when I talk about this. It’s not funny is it? Look you just laughed again.’
He added that Ms Atkins appeared to know ‘nothing’ about why the decision was taken to downgrade Covid-19.
Ms Atkins responded that she was on the programme to talk about the domestic abuse bill, and that the government is ‘following the scientific advice.’
In a statement released today, Ofcom said Morgan is ‘well-known for his combative interviewing style’ and viewers would expect him to challenge senior politicians.
An Ofcom spokesman said: ‘We assessed a number of complaints about Piers Morgan’s conduct while interviewing politicians about the UK’s response to the coronavirus public health crisis.
‘Piers Morgan is well-known for his combative interviewing style and viewers would expect him to challenge senior politicians and hold them to account. His guests were given adequate opportunity to put their points across and counter the presenter’s criticisms.
‘In Ofcom’s view, in line with freedom of expression, it is clearly in the public interest that broadcasters are able to hold those making political decisions to account, particularly during a major national crisis, such as the coronavirus pandemic.’
Piers wrote on Twitter to announce he had been ’emphatically cleared’ by the watchdog: ‘BREAKING NEWS: I’ve been emphatically cleared by Ofcom of treating Government ministers ‘unfairly’ during this crisis.
‘Verdict: ”Viewers would expect him to challenge senior politicians and hold them to account”.
‘Thank you to everyone that supported me.’
Ofcom said it received 1,981 complaints following Morgan’s interview with Ms Whately on April 15.
A further 1,246 complaints were made following the minister’s Good Morning Britain appearance on April 22.
Morgan defended the first interview, saying it was not as ‘uncomfortable’ as the conditions for the carers on the front line of the coronavirus crisis.
During an animated interview, he asked Ms Whately for the number of health workers and care workers who had died from the illness.
She accused him of ‘shouting at me and not giving me a chance to answer your questions’ and ‘attempting to score points’.
Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan called the PPE scandal unveiled by Panorama a ‘national disgrace’ and accused Safeguarding minister Victoria Atkins of laughing
Some viewers accused Morgan of ‘bullying’ the politician while others praised him for ‘demanding answers’.
During Mr Hancock’s appearance on Good Morning Britain, the minister accused Morgan of constantly interrupting him.
Ofcom said it received a further 266 complaints from seven of Morgan’s political interviews during April.
The Good Morning Britain host, 55, attracted more than 3,000 complaints from two interviews with care minister Helen Whately (pictured) earlier this month
On April 22, following his interview with Helen Whately, Piers tweeted: ‘Apparently nearly 2,000 people have now complained to Ofcom about me grilling care minister Helen Whately too ‘unfairly’ when she couldn’t answer even basic questions.
‘If you think I should continue grilling ministers in the way I’ve been doing, please tell Ofcom. Thanks.’
The watchdog was then inundated with responses from Piers’s supporters and were forced to tweet: ‘Dear Piers, We’re usually happy with you keeping us busy.
‘But right now we’re struggling to keep up after you asked your followers to contact us.
‘This means we may fail to help the people that need us most – such as the vulnerable or elderly.
‘So could you please help us out and go easy on the mentions? Any help appreciated.’
Piers responded to say: ‘My apologies, I underestimated the scale of public support.’