Lorraine Kelly has doubled down on her criticism of Esther McVey and given her verdict on British politics in the process, claiming she stands as “an example of everything that is wrong with our toxic political landscape”.
Lorraine’s pivot to politics began earlier this week, when she claimed she couldn’t remember if she got on with McVey when they worked together on GMTV during the ’90s, and quite frankly, it’s escalated from there.
The latest instalment in this unexpected row comes courtesy of Lorraine’s weekly newspaper column, which starts with a few lines on her former colleague-turned-politician.
She writes in The Sun: “It’s true, I genuinely don’t remember her.
“We may have shared a tiny converted portakabin to change into our TV outfits but by the time I came in, she was already on air, so we simply didn’t meet.”
With that clarified for hopefully the final time, Lorraine explains herself a bit more – which is where things get serious.
“My terse reaction had nothing to do with Esther McVey the TV presenter and everything to do with Miss McVey the politician,” she writes, adding that there’s no “TV feud”.
“I abhor her stance on LGBT rights,” Lorraine continues. “And like so many of her colleagues from all sides of parliament, she stands an example of everything that is wrong with our toxic political landscape.
“It’s much bigger and far more important than a non-existent spat between two breakfast TV presenters,” Lorraine continues. “It’s about what British politics has become; a nasty, murky, divisive battle ground where no one seems to have a proper plan or strategy.
Referencing McVey standing as a candidate in the Conservative Party leadership race, Lorraine continues: “The choice of Prime Minister at a crucial time for the future of our country looks like deciding between death by hanging or firing squad.
“The quality of candidates is so poor it makes the rest of us outside of the feverish Westminster bubble shake our heads in utter despair.”
Lorraine and Esther’s fellow former colleague Fiona Phillips waded into the row on Wednesday morning too – sticking up for the ITV presenter.
In her Daily Mirror column, she labelled McVey’s promotion claims “strange”, writing: “She [McVey] didn’t have a job at GMTV until she covered my three month maternity in 1999.
“How could she have been ‘promoted’, then, from a job she’d never held in the first place? Hmmmm.”
Fiona continued: “My mum told me at a very young age. ‘Don’t bother telling untruths because you’ll always get found out’.
“I wonder if Tory Leadership hopeful, Esther McVey was told that as a child?” Ouch.