Richard Madeley branded ‘ridiculous’ by GMB viewers after telling RMT boss Mick Lynch to ‘jog on’

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Good Morning Britain viewers have mocked presenter Richard Madeley for his conduct during an interview with union boss Mick Lynch.

Lynch, who serves as the general secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), was appearing on the ITV morning show amid a series of planned rail strikes.

The interview saw Madeley repeatedly interupt Lynch and talk at length in condemnation of the strikes, at one point telling the exasperated interviewee to “jog on”.

“Why couldn’t you have put all these strikes in January?” Madeley said. “Why do you have to target people at Christmas? You’ll be putting people out of business who run hotels, who run restaurants, who run bars, and retail.”

“Well, we’re not targeting Christmas,” Lynch replied. “It isn’t Christmas yet, Richard. I don’t know when your Christmas starts, but mine starts on Christmas Eve.”

Madeley then accused Lynch of being “disingenuous”, and “depriving people of their income”.

“You’re just ranting now,” Lynch responded. “You’re just talking to yourself, now, Richard. Why don’t you just interview yourself?”

Viewers reacted strongly to the exchange on social media, with Madeley’s conduct prompting widespread criticism.

“Watched GMB for the first time in months. Richard Madeley totally lost the plot interviewing Mick Lynch. Has it been this bad? Don’t think I’ve seen such a biased interview,” one person wrote.

“ Seems like someone finally told Richard Madeley to stop talking to Mick Lynch after his pathetic meltdown. @GMB needs to get a grip and stop peddling this agenda. Good luck to the train workers!” wrote another.

“If he spoke to me the way he spoke to Mick Lynch and told me to ‘jog on’ thats exactly what I would have done. So rude and unprofessional,” someone else wrote.

Another viewer joked: “How many times does Mick Lynch have to nutmeg Richard Madeley for the coach to make a substitution?”

“Richard Madeley needs to calm down and let other people speak. A lot of the public stand with the rail strikers and nurses etc,” someone else commented.

The Independent has contacted ITV for comment.

Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV1.