Richard Madeley breaks cover after apologising amid massive backlash for asking British-Palestinian MP Layla Moran if she ‘had any indication’ about Hamas’ terror attack on Israel
- Madeley has apologised for the remarks made to the Liberal Democrat MP
- A statement from a GMB spokesperson said he is ‘sorry’ for upsetting viewers
Good Morning Britain host Richard Madeley has broken cover after apologising to a British-Palestinian MP for asking if she knew about Hamas’s terror attack on Israel before it happened.
Layla Moran, whose family are trapped in Gaza as Israel prepare a land invasion, was seemingly taken aback by Madeley’s question and GMB viewers called for the presenter to be ‘pulled off air’ as they lodged complaints to media watchdog Ofcom.
His remarks sparked outrage, prompting him to make an apology to the Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, with a statement from a Good Morning Britain spokesperson saying he is ‘sorry that he has upset viewers’.
Madeley was seen in public for the first time since the incident today. He appeared to be pumping up a tyre on his bike before heading out for a ride.
The spokesperson added that his intention was to ‘understand the mood and atmosphere’ of the situation before the barbaric attacks launched by Hamas on October 7 and ‘he did not mean to imply that she or her family might have had any prior knowledge of the attacks’.
Ms Moran was appearing as a guest on the flagship ITV breakfast show when Madeley asked: ‘With your family connections in Gaza, did you have any indication of what was going to happen ten days ago, two weeks ago? Was there any word on the street?’
Good Morning Britain host Richard Madeley has broken cover after apologising to a British-Palestinian MP for asking if she knew about Hamas’s terror attack on Israel before it happened
The GMB star was seen pumping up a tyre on his bike before heading out for a ride
Good Morning Britain host Richard Madeley (pictured) has apologised after he sparked outrage for asking a British-Palestinian MP if she knew about Hamas’s terror attack on Israel before it happened.
Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran has said that members of her extended family in Gaza had their home bombed but are ‘too old’ to flee the area
Madeley asked Britain’s first British-Palestinian MP: ‘With your family connections in Gaza, did you have any indication of what was going to happen ten days ago, two weeks ago? Was there there any word on the street?’
Hamas terrorists fire rockets towards Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 11. Israel is preparing a full invasion by land, sea and air in retaliation
A Good Morning Britain spokesperson said regarding the incident this morning: ‘Richard is sorry that he has upset viewers with his question to Layla Moran. His intention was to understand the mood and atmosphere amongst the civilian population of Gaza immediately before the attacks.
MP Layla Moran’s family
Layla Moran is Britain’s first ever Palestinian MP.
Her immediate family are Palestinian Christians from the West Bank, while she has extended family members in Gaza City.
She has spoken about her family members being trapped in Gaza – and how she and her sister are trying to get news from their relatives every day as they run out of food and have been reduced to drinking water.
Ms Moran’s mother Randa is Palestinian while her father James is British. He joined the EU Commission when she was one and the family moved to Brussels.
Her mother’s family are originally Greek but they moved to Palestine and then Jordan after the diaspora in the 60s.
Her great-grandfather was the Palestinian writer Wasif Jawhariyyeh, who wrote memoirs about Palestinian life under Ottoman and British rule.
‘He asked Layla about her family in Gaza City because she had discussed speaking to them earlier in the interview. He did not mean to imply that she or her family might have had any prior knowledge of the attacks.’
It is also understood that Ms Moran appreciated the interview and would love to go back on the show.
Following Mr Madeley’s question, Ms Moran – whose father is a British diplomat, and mother a Christian Palestinian from Jerusalem – replied: ‘Not this, not this. I think everyone, everyone has been surprised first of all by the timing and sophistication and the way that it’s happened.’
As the first British-Palestinian MP, she added: ‘What I will say is that I’ve been warning, and others have in Parliament as well for a number of years now, that if we don’t find a way… People say “go back to the negotiating table”.’
‘The fact of the matter is there has not been a table, let alone to go back to a negotiating table for at least ten years now.
‘This is a cycle of violence. Every time there is a cycle of violence, my worry now is that this is radicalising another generation on all sides. We have to stop this hatred. We have to bring people together and find a way through… Peace is harder than war.’
Hamas terrorists launched an unprecedented attack on Israel ten days ago, killing more than 1,400 people and taking scores of hostages including grandmothers, women and children.
Fellow MP Florence Eshalomi said: ‘I just saw the clip from @GMB interviews this morning. Richard Madeley is actually disgraceful. I was in the chamber yesterday but sadly I didn’t get an opportunity to speak in the statement.
The Labour and Co-op MP added: ‘Solidarity with @LaylaMoran for having to endure this racist line of questioning.’
Outraged viewers also fumed at Madeley’s comments and several have said they have reported him to Ofcom. MailOnline contacted Ofcom for comment but details of complaints will not be released until tomorrow.
Layla Moran (pictured at a rally in November 2018) is Britain’s first Palestinian MP
Several people, including MP Florence Eshalomi, condemned Madeley for his line of questioning
Others urged people to report the interview to media watchdog Ofcom after the backlash
One user said: ‘Such an appalling, indefensible question from Richard Madeley. How on earth would Layla Moran know what Hamas was planning?
‘The Israeli intelligence services claim they didn’t even know! Good Morning Britain please sack Richard Madeley.’
READ MORE: Good Morning Britain’s Richard Madeley faces backlash after asking British-Palestinian MP Layla Moran if she ‘had any indication’ about Hamas’ terror attack on Israel
Another posted: ‘DID RICHARD MADELEY JUST ASK A PALESTINIAN MP IF SHE KNEW ABOUT THE ATTACKS BEFORE IT HAPPENED?? Absolutely VILE and OFFENSIVE! He should apologise or be taken off.’
A third wrote: ‘He should be fired for this.’ A fourth added: ‘Richard Madeley needs to be taken off the air. This is deeply offensive.’
And a fifth tweeted: ‘Madeley should be sacked, today, for this.’
MailOnline has contacted ITV for comment.
Earlier on in the show, Ms Moran, fearing for her family, declared: ‘I don’t believe it’s right that my family are being held to account for what Hamas has done’.
She said members of her extended family are ‘too old’ and frightened to flee after their home was bombed by Israeli forces.
The MP said of Israel’s bombing campaign with a land invasion on the way: ‘Two wrongs do not make a right in this situation’.
She added: ‘My immediate family is from the West Bank, but we have extended family in Gaza City’.
Ms Moran said her relatives are stranded in a church, they have ‘no food and no water’, ‘have nowhere to go’ and are ‘too old’ to move’.
‘They are there because an Israeli bomb hit their house. They have heard that there have been convoys of people who have also been hit. They just don’t feel safe to move.’
The politician says her family are in a church and too scared to move
‘I don’t believe it’s right that my family are being held to account for what Hamas has done. It is a choice to turn off the electricity and the water like they have done.’
When it was put to her that the Israelis are using it as ‘leverage’ to force Hamas to release hostages, the MP added: ‘They must releases those hostages, not a hair on their heads harmed. But that doesn’t make it ok that people like my family are impacted. Two wrongs do not make a right in this situation.’
READ MORE: ‘They’re here at our house… they’re shooting and shouting ”Die Israel”: Relatives of British mother and daughter murdered by Hamas reveal their harrowing last messages – and share video of their blood-spattered home
Rishi Sunak yesterday backed Israel’s ‘absolute’ right to defend itself – as he revealed six British citizens were killed and ten are still missing in the wake of the ‘pogrom’ by Hamas.
This morning a 13-year-old British girl, who disappeared after Hamas attacked Be’eri Kibbutz and killed her mother Lianne, was confirmed dead by her heartbroken family. Her 16-year-old sister and their father remain missing.
In a sombre statement to the Commons, the Prime Minister said the UK would not try to ‘prescribe’ how Israel should respond in the face of the terror group’s barbaric assault.
He said that ‘as a friend’, the UK would urge Israel to ‘take every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians’ as it seeks to root out Hamas from its strongholds in Gaza.
But he warned that critics of Israel had to recognise that Hamas bears responsibility for the bloodshed and is now using ordinary Palestinians as ‘human shields’.
The PM said that men, women, children and even babies had been ‘murdered, mutilated and burned alive’ by Hamas, adding: ‘We should call it by its name – it was a pogrom.’
‘I believe we must support, absolutely, Israel’s right to defend itself,’ he said. ‘To go after Hamas, take back the hostages, deter further incursions, and strengthen its security for the long term.
‘But this must be done in line with international humanitarian law but also recognising that they face a vicious enemy that embeds itself behind civilians.’
In a sombre statement to the Commons, the Prime Minister said the UK would not ‘prescribe’ how Israel should respond to the terror group’s barbaric assault
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wrote a message of goodwill to the people of Israel, whilst visiting a north London Jewish school
The PM said that ‘at least’ six British nationals had been killed in the conflict, with a further ten ‘missing’, some of them thought to have been kidnapped by Hamas.
Announcing an extra £10million in humanitarian aid for Palestine, he said civilians in Gaza were ‘victims of Hamas too’.
He was backed by Sir Keir Starmer, who said Israel had been ‘the victim of terrorism on an almost unimaginable scale’.
The Labour leader also offered support to Israel saying that ‘while Hamas have the capability to carry out attacks on Israel’s territory there can be no peace’.
Mr Sunak also tried to offer direct reassurance to the Jewish community that the Government and police would act in response to the ‘sickening’ rise in anti-Semitic incidents in recent days.
‘This atrocity was an existential strike at the very idea of Israel as a safe homeland of the Jewish people,’ he said. ‘I understand why it has shaken you to your core.’
The PM condemned ‘unacceptable’ scenes at some UK protests where demonstrators openly celebrated the Hamas attacks – and warned that anyone identified would face ‘the full force of the law’.
Earlier, Home Secretary Suella Braverman suggested that pro-Palestinian protesters could face prosecution if they continue chanting: ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.’
Mrs Braverman said the slogan, which was heard at demonstrations across the country last week, was ‘widely understood as a demand for the destruction of Israel. Attempts to pretend otherwise are disingenuous’.
She said ‘mainstream groups’ had dropped the ‘intimidating’ chant decades ago, adding: ‘The slogan was taken up by Islamists, including Hamas, and remains a staple of antisemitic discourse.
‘To hear it shouted in public causes alarm not just to Jews but to all decent people. Those who promote hate on Britain’s streets should realise that our tolerance has limits.’
Her comments will pile pressure on the police and prosecutors to take more account of the context of anti-Israel protests in the wake of the massacres by Hamas.
Mr Sunak said it was right to recognise that it was also ‘a moment of great anguish for British Muslim communities, who are appalled by Hamas’s actions but fearful of the response.’ Mr Sunak faced repeated calls from MPs to outlaw Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, which has been blamed for sponsoring the Hamas attacks.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman suggested pro-Palestinian protesters could face prosecution if they chanted: ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’
Former defence secretary Liam Fox said: ‘If the fingers on the trigger were Hamas, the strings being pulled were from Tehran.’
Fellow Tory Bob Blackman said the Hamas attack ‘was clearly well-planned, well-resourced, well-equipped and had been planned for many months’.
He added: ‘It is beyond belief that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps who fund and support Hamas were not behind this whole operation.’
The PM said British spy planes and warships had been dispatched to the region in part to prevent Iran supplying weapons to anti-Israel terror groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah.
But he swerved questions about why the Government has still not banned the Revolutionary Guard.
British officials have been pressing for Egypt to open the Rafah crossing with Gaza to allow Britons, dual nationals, as well as their spouses and children, to flee, and to allow humanitarian aid into its more than two million people.
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