Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Coronavirus: Phillip Schofield criticises ‘utterly astonishing’ government advice live on This Morning

‘If this was in a farce on the telly, I’d go, “That’s a bit far fetched”’

Isobel Lewis
Monday 11 May 2020 12:21 BST
Comments
Phillip Schofield rages about confusion over lockdown guidance on This Morning

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Phillip Schofield compared Boris Johnson’s coronavirus lockdown update to a farce as he described the “utter confusion” he felt watching Sunday night’s speech.

The TV presenter opened Monday’s This Morning by discussing with Holly Willoughby his frustration after the Prime Minister’s address “created more questions than answers”.

“The problem is, I think we’re all just about holding on… but when there is this level of confusion, it knocks you back,” Willoughby said.

“That’s the problem, we now lack clarity,” Schofield replied. “I understood until last night at seven o’clock, I understood where we were going, what was happening. Now I don’t understand.”

The pair voiced their confusion over the legality of visiting parents, after the government originally stated that you could only see one of them, which Schofield described as making “no sense whatsoever”.

Dominic Raab then told the BBC’s Today programme that you could visit two parents, only for the government to make a U-turn and say that this was “wrong”.

“You literally couldn’t write this. If this was in a farce on the telly, I’d go, ‘That’s a bit far fetched,’” Schofield said.

“It is utterly astonishing. You know that we’ve been really level on here, we’ve been really sensible, I think, on here. But now this has just tipped us over the edge today, until somebody, maybe, would come on the show and explain what it is that you actually want us to do. What are we allowed to do?”

“You made us cross today, Boris,” he concluded.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in