Phillip Schofield Accused Of 'Spreading Hate' Against The Police In This Morning Debate On Lockdown Fines

Phillip Schofield has faced criticism from This Morning viewers after some felt his sarcastic remarks about the police service were inappropriate.

The popular presenter, 58, made the comments after an interview with two women, who were fined £200 for taking a walk during lockdown.

Alongside co-presenter Holly Willoughby, he quizzed Jessica Allen and Eliza Moore after they were told by police their socially distanced walk in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicester, did not count as exercise.

As they were holding Starbucks coffee cups, the pair were told their activity was classed as a "picnic" which was against the strict lockdown rules and hit with the hefty fine.

And it was clear what Phillip made of the situation, as he said: "It's fantastic that Derbyshire Police have at least five police officers who have got time to stand in an empty car park, which is good."

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Phillip's remarks did not go down too well with viewers, with some taking to social media to accuse the star of stirring feelings of ill-will towards the police.

"Typical Schofe sarcastic, patronising comment re 'five police officers," complained one fan on Twitter.

Another staunchly wrote: "Schofield should apologise for spreading hate against the police."

"The police bashing by the media and This Morning is an absolute joke!" commented a third. "Maybe Holly and Phil should go out on a police shift and see how difficult the job is. As for the two girls, I'd double the fine for acting like spoilt brats."

"Absolutely disgraceful comment," said a fourth. "Police officers are being pulled in from all over the country and working longer hours doing a difficult job and this idiot sits there in a warm studio slagging them off. Absolute joke."

"Well folks, This Morning's story was about these two girls not sure why so many people are attacking the police they are doing a thankless job trying to enforce the lockdown when really they would prefer to be policing their areas! Police bashing is not helpful and pretty unfair to be honest!" one viewer pointed out.

Another added: "Absolutely disgusted with Phil's sarcastic comment about the police having five officers standing around. Completely irresponsible presenting. Shame on you."

However, others agreed with Phillip that the fine seemed too steep, particularly as the women who had got into trouble had been trying to socially distance.

"These girls have tried their best to stick to the rules. Five miles is hardly travelling far," wrote one viewer.

"The two young women from Leics gave a very good account of themselves- intelligent , reasonable & considerate - the police were overzealous and heavy handed on this occasion," a second said.

"The two ladies who got fined by police for going five miles for exercise, should have just been given a warning," a third wrote. "£200 pounds is a lot of money to fork out, esp with alot of people out of work or furlough. Bills still need to be paid."

Tyla has contacted This Morning for comment.

This Morning continues weekdays from 10am on ITV.

Topics: This Morning, Entertainment News, Phillip Schofield, Celebrity News, TV News, TV & Film, ITV

Kimberley Bond

Kim is a journalist at Tyla, and has previously worked at the Evening Standard, Radio Times as well as several national newspapers. A showbiz obsessive and a television fanatic, Kim is particularly interested in celebrity gossip, A-list events and the latest releases on either the big or small screen. Contact her at [email protected]

@0xKimberley