Do you agree with Phillip Schofield handing David Cameron a list of alleged Tory paedophiles live on ITV's This Morning?

Make your voice heard in our Independent Voices poll.

Laura Davis
Thursday 08 November 2012 14:13 GMT
ITV said earlier today that it has taken "appropriate disciplinary action" over the incident which saw Schofield roundly criticised for handing the Prime Minister a list of names - understood to be Conservative Party figures - during the live show which he said he had put together from internet rumours
ITV said earlier today that it has taken "appropriate disciplinary action" over the incident which saw Schofield roundly criticised for handing the Prime Minister a list of names - understood to be Conservative Party figures - during the live show which he said he had put together from internet rumours

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When the Prime Minister agreed to appear on This Morning today, he probably didn't expect to be handed a list of alleged Tory paedophiles by Phillip Schofield. But that's exactly what happened.

Schofield handed Cameron a list of suspected Tory paedophiles - reportedly based on a brief internet trawl of internet rumours by the presenter - linked to the sexual abuse of boys in care.

But as it was accidentally twisted, viewers could reportedly see the list.

Downing Street said it was a "silly stunt" that had led to people's names being implicated. "They will want to vigorously defend themselves," a spokesperson told the Daily Mail.

Cameron didn’t look at the paper, instead urging anybody who has been abused to contact the police. He said:

"There is a danger if we are not careful that this can turn into a sort of witch hunt, particularly about people who are gay, and I'm worried about the sort of thing you are doing right now, taking a list of names off the internet."

The government has ordered an inquiry into allegations that a senior Thatcher-era Tory political figure sexually abused children, and that it was covered up.

As some of the names of the list were reportedly potentially visible when the paper turned, this could get ITV into a heap of legal trouble. Do you think Schofield took it too far? Or was he right in putting Cameron in the awkward position?

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