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Phillip Schofield clashed with Matt Hancock over “utterly bonkers” changes to the lockdown rules as the health secretary was interviewed on This Morning.
The presenter made his frustrations about the government’s latest updates abundantly clear as he and co-host Holly Willoughby spoke to Hancock on Tuesday.
Phillip asked why people are having to choose between their parents when meeting someone from another household in a public space, following confirmation from the government it could only be one other person at a time.
“One at a time. You can see one, then you can see the other, and that’s fine.” Hancock suggested.
Phillip then asked if theoretically, you could see each parent separately, 10 minutes apart, to which Hancock said this would be permitted under the new rules.
“Don’t you see that that’s utterly bonkers?” Phillip replied.
“No,” Hancock said. “It is really important that the principle is, we don’t want large groups of people gathering... You have to have a line somewhere.”
Phillip also tried to get the MP to admit that the initial messaging about changes to the lockdown rules was “confused”, following the prime minister’s TV address on Sunday night.
“Do you agree that yesterday the government confused us?” the presenter asked.
“Well I am here to try to make sure everybody understands as best as possible what we are trying to agree,” Hancock replied.
Repeating his question again, the health secretary then told Phillip: “Well, I think we were quite clear.”
Phillip then pointed out some of the confusion had come from the fact the prime minister appeared on TV before the 50-page document outlining the changes in full was released a day later.
“Wasn’t it just that it was the wrong way around?” he asked.
“I don’t buy that,” Hancock said. “I have been talking to my constituents over the last couple of days about this, they get it.
“They know what ‘stay alert’ means, we are trying to communicate the substance of the changes and what people need to do as clearly as possible, based on principles that people clearly get. We have to rely, all of us, on each other’s common sense to get us through this.”
Phillip then criticised foreign secretary Dominic Raab for causing confusing with his appearances on the BBC on Monday, in which the minister wrongly suggested people could meet up outdoors with more than one person at a time.
He said: “We think – hold on a second, they haven’t got their hand on the tiller, they don’t know what they are doing.”
Hancock replied: “Well, why don’t you ask me the questions and we will get through it.”
Elsewhere in the interview, the MP admitted people may not be able to hug any friends or family they don’t live with until a vaccine is found.
Hancock’s appearance on This Morning came after he was criticised by Piers Morgan, presenter of fellow ITV daytime show Good Morning Britain, for refusing to be interviewed.
Piers tweeted: “Very unlike Mr Hancock who normally has the balls to defend his decisions. He’s obviously now lost them.
“Do you think it is right for the Health Secretary to boycott a major UK breakfast TV news show during the biggest health crisis for 100 years?
“Why are @GMB viewers not worthy of your time & vital information which might save their lives?”
This Morning airs weekdays at 10am on ITV.