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Complaints against Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan following “combative” interviews with government ministers have been dismissed.
The TV regulator Ofcom threw out the charges against the former Daily Mirror editor, who has twice been involved in testy exchanges with Faversham and Mid-Kent MP Helen Whately in recent weeks.
They first clashed on April 15 when the Kent MP stumbled her way through a 20-minute appearance on the ITV show, with the care minister at one point accused of laughing at the controversial host.
A second collision occurred on April 22, when Mrs Whately, 43, was lambasted by the presenter for the government's lower-than-promised testing rates, and for still not having accurate figures for the latest death toll in care homes.
Morgan attracted more than 3,000 complaints over the two interviews, while around 600 viewers also complained about another interview with health secretary Matt Hancock on April 16.
In a statement responding to the complaints, Ofcom said Morgan is “well-known for his combative interviewing style” and it was to be expected that he would give senior politicians a grilling over their handling of the coronavirus crisis.
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.”
Many of the complaints to the regulator were likely prompted by the motor-mouth host himself, after he tweeted to tell his 7.3 million Twitter followers to visit the television regulator’s website if they objected to his conduct.
