Fiona Bruce had to step in to halt a heated row between Nigel Farage and Piers Morgan on BBC’s Question Time after Farage was accused of “bottling” his decision to stand for election.
The fiery exchange occurred on Thursday’s episode, where Farage, the honorary president of Reform UK, and Morgan were debating ahead of the general election on July 4.
The confrontation began when an audience member asked Farage why he wasn’t running for office, despite his prominent role in Reform UK’s campaign. Earlier this week, Farage had attributed his decision to Rishi Sunak’s unexpectedly early election call. However, before Farage could explain this to the audience, Morgan interjected, “You bottled it, mate.”
Farage snapped back at Morgan, “Piers, you have never stood in your life. You are not even a TV presenter.” The pair then began shouting over each other until Bruce, chairing the show from Epsom, intervened to restore order.
Despite Bruce’s efforts, the two continued to bicker. Morgan accused Farage of having ample time to prepare for the election, saying, “You have had all year to think about this election. We all knew it was coming. This idea that you didn’t have enough time to prepare is rubbish.”
Farage retaliated by mocking Morgan’s media career, referencing Morgan’s departure from his daily show on TalkTV. “I still have a nightly TV show. Yours has been shut down. But mine is still going,” Farage said.
Morgan defended his decision to leave TalkTV, claiming he wanted to focus on his Uncensored YouTube channel and calling fixed TV schedules “an increasingly unnecessary straitjacket.” He responded to Farage, “I came off old linear television because you are sitting there with nobody watching, losing tons of money.”
Bruce stepped in again, telling them, “Piers and Nigel, as much as you want to sort out your TV rivalries, this is not the time or the place.”
Joining Morgan and Farage on the panel were Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Conservative MP Damian Hinds, and the Bishop of Dover, Rose Hudson-Wilkin. They discussed various political issues, including the NHS, migration, and national service.
Addressing Rishi Sunak’s proposal for mandatory national service for 18-year-olds, Farage dismissed it as “not a real policy.” He criticized it as a focus group idea, noting that it would only provide military training to one in 36 young people, with the rest doing 25 days of voluntary service annually without compulsion or sanctions.
Farage also condemned the winter lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, calling them a “terrible mistake.” He stated, “I think the second and third lockdowns were catastrophic – particularly for the young in this country – even the very young too in terms of their development. We will look back at it as one of the worst historical mistakes of our lifetime.”
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