If Penny Mordaunt thought she was in for an easy ride on the Last Leg, Irish comedian Vittorio Angelone had other ideas.
Former Tory MP Mordaunt appeared on the Channel 4 panel show on Friday to discuss her role as an ambassador for the Music Man Project, a choir formed of people with learning disabilities.
Alongside her on the show was Angelone, and after Mordaunt finished discussing her project, the Belfast comedian saw his chance to skewer the ex-defence secretary.
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He said: “Penny’s always been such a supporter of disabled people, you’re very supportive of the prosthetics industry… You were promoting on Twitter an arms fair in Saudi Arabia recently?”
This was a reference to a post Mordaunt had shared on X in February, in which she congratulated UK companies that exhibited at the World Defence Show in Saudi Arabia.
Whilst the comment drew laughter and applause from the audience, Mordaunt was predictably unimpressed and told Angelone: “You’ve got to let me respond to that.”
She then tried to justify the importance of investing in British defence was, particularly against the backdrop of the US’s military action in Iran.
Angelone told Mordaunt he was “on your side,” to which she responded: “I don’t think you are sweetheart.”
The comedian hit back at her “patronising” comment though, continuing: “As a positive thing I think it’s great, war-mongering has always been a male-dominated industry, you’ve smashed the glass ceiling.”
Mordaunt then said she would like to introduce the comedian to “some other women that put their lives on the line to defend people like you being able to make jokes about the government and all sorts of things, and enjoy the freedoms that we do in this country.”
But in a final coup de grâce, Angelone quipped that defending military actions by the British government was a “tough sell to a guy from Belfast.”
On social media, many praised Angelone for the exchange, and for not shying away from taking on Mordaunt.