Robert Jenrick has sparked quite the online reaction after using a swear word to dismiss one of presenter Kate Garraway’s points during Thursday’s Good Morning Britain.
The Shadow Justice Secretary joined Ms Garraway and ITV co-presenter Ed Balls on Thursday’s show to discuss the Deputy Prime Minister, David Lammy, after he dodged probes about mistakenly released prisoners five times in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
ITV GMB: Robert Jenrick swore at Kate Garraway on Thursday’s GMB
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ITV
“It was an unedifying sight, wasn’t it, at Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday, Mr Jenrick,” Mr Balls began on GMB. “To see the Minister not answering the clear question from the Shadow Defence Secretary, and then not returning to the Commons to explain what had happened.”
Mr Jenrick pulled no punches as he replied: “Yeah. Look, I thought it was one of the most shambolic performances by a senior Cabinet Minister I’ve ever seen.
“And worse than that, you had David Lammy, the Justice Secretary, finding out the night before that a convicted sex offender, illegal migrant, had been accidentally released from a prison and was on the streets of London — that that had happened six days earlier — and yet the Met Police hadn’t been informed.
“What did he do? We’re told he went out to buy a suit the next morning, instead of trying to lead the response, and then he came to Parliament and essentially tried to conceal this.
ITV GMB: Robert Jenrick with Kate Garraway and Ed Balls
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ITV
“He didn’t answer five straight questions, even though he knew the answer, and tried to spare his own blushes rather than being straight with the public and starting to find this dangerous man.
“I thought it was a total and utter shambles — of a kind I haven’t seen in years — a dereliction of duty by David Lammy.”
Ms Garraway weighed in to ask about Shadow Defence Secretary, James Cartlidge, and whether he could have altered his approach when grilling Mr Lammy in the Commons.
She asked: “Why didn’t the Conservative — why didn’t James Cartlidge just ask him directly? They said they knew someone had been released. Why didn’t they go in direct and say, ‘We know people have been released, you’re lying,’ and call him to account there and then?”
ITV GMB: Robert Jenrick forced an apology from Kate Garraway
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Mr Jenrick replied: “Well, I think the story was about to break and hadn’t yet been confirmed either by the Met Police or the Ministry of Justice, and so James Cartlidge, perfectly reasonably, gave David Lammy the opportunity to set the facts out in the public domain, given he was the Justice Secretary.”
Ms Garraway cut in to suggest: “Sorry to interrupt, but that’s David Lammy’s argument that he didn’t want to release it before it was official, and so the argument you’re giving for the Conservative could well have been in David Lammy’s mind — maybe I’d better not say.”
“Well, Kate, it’s very early in the morning and your viewers are still having their breakfast, but that, I’m afraid, if you excuse my language, is total b******t!” Mr Jenrick emphatically responded, prompting gasps from the GMB hosts and a flustered Ms Garraway to yell: “Don’t swear!”
Mr Jenrick ignored the screeches as he continued: “The Met Police immediately debunked that and said that they had no objection whatsoever to David Lammy standing at the dispatch box and saying it like it was.
“And in fact, it would have been helpful, because there’s now a manhunt underway trying to find a dangerous man who endangers the public. And if David Lammy had helped to get that message out, it would have been helpful — because this is serious.
“We can laugh about David Lammy and the clown show that he did in the House of Commons, and the way he’s conducting himself as the so-called Deputy Prime Minister of our country, but this is the second convicted sex offender — illegal migrant — who was due to be deported in two weeks, who has now been allowed to walk out of a prison without so much as anyone trying to stop them.
“And this man is out on the streets, and his victims — imagine how they feel this morning. We heard from the Epping victim earlier in the week, from her family and her, and she said she couldn’t get to sleep.
“She was wracked with worry and fear that that man might be on his way back to Epping and might cause her further distress in the future.
James Cartlidge was the one to grill Lammy on the prisoners’ release
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PA“And so there will be victims in London or elsewhere in the country today who are seriously worried because of this massive failure by the Ministry of Justice. And David Lammy needs to get a grip.”
Ms Garraway regained her composure as she waded back in: “Okay. Mr Jenrick, you make some very serious points. I’m just going to apologise on your behalf to children watching, because we know they watch this programme. Please don’t swear again, because you’ll get us all into trouble. Ed, I know you wanted to pick up on something else.”
Mr Balls smirked as he commented: “It was actually quite nostalgic. It was a bit like James Cleverley talking about the Rwanda scheme — using that kind of language. It took me back a couple of years.”
“He did say, I’m told, to your wife, Ed, and then she leaked it to journalists — perhaps like you, Ed. It’s all one big family,” Mr Jenrick mocked.
The pair began sniping back and forth before Ms Garraway intervened: “I just want to ask you one thing about prisons, because I feel like this is turning into a family squabble.”
Ms Garraway moved the conversation on to ask Mr Jenrick about the prison system as a whole, asking whether the Conservatives were to blame at all for the current state of affairs.
Mr Jenrick conceded the previous Tory government didn’t perform as well as it should have regarding prisons, but pointed out the stats had been exacerbated somewhat since Labour got into power.
Inevitably, Mr Jenrick’s outburst garnered quite the reaction from viewers at home, with many fans split on the choice of language and the politician’s stance on the issue.
ITV GMB: Robert Jenrick blasted Lammy
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ITV
“I never thought I’d say this, but I agree with Jenrick!” one X user praised while a second echoed: “Robert Jenrick was awesome this morning.”
A third agreed: “@RobertJenrick was absolutely spot on. It WAS the most shambolic shambles many of have ever seen. @DavidLammy KNEW the truth yet he DECIDED to conceal it from the house & the public. He HAS to go! How can anyone ever trust anything anyone says in hoc if they can’t tell the truth.”
However, another viewer argued: “@RobertJenrick is very experienced in media interviews and the only reason he swore was for clicks. I hope he’s never PM, he’s playing games.”
And a fifth hit out: “He’s got a cheek. When he was in government he avoided answering questions like all the Tories did. Isn’t this what all mps do?” (sic)