ITV GMB's Richard Madeley abruptly ends Labour MP grilling with brutal five-word dig

Good Morning Britain's Richard Madeley clashed with Labour MP Jim McMahon over the concerns surrounding an alleged Chinese spy who forged a close relationship with Prince Andrew.

During Monday's visit (December 16) to the ITV studios, the 68-year-old broadcaster woke up the nation alongside his co-host Kate Garraway as they discussed some of the biggest stories hitting the headlines.

This included the petition to increase face-to-face GP consultations, the questions surrounding Prince Andrew's involvement in the royal Christmas celebrations, and the news that councils could be merged in a major local government shake-up.

But arguably the biggest news to hit the headlines was the scandal surrounding the disgraced royal and his reported relationship with the international spy.

When the politician was grilled as to whether or not he agreed that the governent should use their parlimentary power to name the secret agent, known as H6, he refused to give a clear answer.

The pair also quizzed the MP about the news that county and district councils are set to merge with more elected mayors to be introduced in the new year.

Ministers are set to publish a paper on Monday, outlining plans for mergers in areas where there are currently two tiers of local authority - smaller district and larger county councils - in an effort to streamline services.

The politician argued: "The population still exists and the council will still exists to run those services, but I hear a lot from people who live in two tier areas where they don't know which council to go to."

It's fair to say Richard was noticeably annoyed as he brought their interview to an abrupt end. He fumed: "We're going to have to wrap it there, as we are out of time.

"No time to talk to you about the numbers of boats coming across the channel and no government figure on what's acceptable and what's not, but maybe we'll save that for another time."

It comes after Kate Garraway stepped in for her co-host Susanna Reid who announced last week that she will be taking a break from the morning show for the festive holiday.

Last week, the 54-year-old host brought up the show's 1 Million Minutes campaign. The campaign aims to encourage viewers to pledge their time to charities that tackle the issues of loneliness.

Marking her final show of the year, she gushed: "Ending on a positive note, our amazing 1 Million Minutes campaign - I just want to say thank you to everybody who has pledged their minutes to the campaign.

"We have a special programme on Christmas Day but this is my last chance to say thank you to you before Christmas because it is my last programme before Christmas Day."

Good Morning Britain airs on weekdays from 6am on ITV1 or catch up on ITVX.