CARE Minister Helen Whately clashed with Piers Morgan again this morning as the MP appeared on the programme to discuss coronavirus testing.
Whately was called out after it emerged the number of coronavirus tests being carried out has decreased, with the UK still far off its 100,000 tests per week target. Only 17,000 tests were made last week, lower than the week before that.
Last week the pair clashed in a “train wreck interview” as Whately could not tell Morgan how many people had died in care homes due to the virus.
READ MORE: Covid-19: Minister denies laughing during Piers Morgan interview
This week when Morgan told her the number of tests had slipped, the minister did not defend the claims but insisted the UK Government is “ramping up” its testing capability, which Morgan rejected. He told her: "I don’t want to hear about you ramping up though, with respect you're not ramping it up.
"When you keep saying you're ramping things up, you're not, you're going backwards.”
'We are testing less people yesterday than we tested 12 days ago' - @piersmorgan
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) April 22, 2020
'We know testing is really important. We have been working hard to ramp up the testing capacity in the country' - Care Minister Helen Whately. pic.twitter.com/JqnVwbX4nu
Referring to tests being rolled out to various frontline workers, Morgan told her: "You should have been doing this all weeks ago with respect."
Whately also struggled to give a figure on how many people have died in care homes to date.
He told her: "You said this last week, you came back on this programme after what people thought was a train wreck interview, you still don’t know and say you’ll come back next week.
"At what point will you have an answer?"
Last week Whately had to deny laughing during the Good Morning Britain as Morgan asked her about care home deaths.
She said she had not done so and said she felt Morgan had been shouting over her during the exchange.
Pro-independence group Yes Brechin wrote on Twitter to say they were looking forward to seeing the pair’s third encounter.
They tweeted: “Another car crash interview on ITV from Care Minister Helen Whately who stil can’t come up with accurate figures for deaths in care homes. Neither can she explain how the 100,000 tests target will be met by the end of the month. Round 3 with Piers next week...should be good”
Several UK ministers have struggled on Good Morning Britain recently with Morgan taking a vocal role in criticising the Government’s approach to the coronavirus crisis.
His role in holding the Government to account has come as somewhat of a surprise to many. Morgan is a former editor of right-wing newspapers and recently voted Tory at the General Election. He is also an old friend of US President Donald Trump.
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