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‘I’ve been to war zones!’ GB News’ indignation at a police order to evacuate is a fabulously funny (and infuriating) watch

John Plunkett. Updated May 3rd, 2023

High drama on GB News – and it’s not often we say that – after Jacob Rees-Mogg’s show was interrupted by police responding to a security alert outside Buckingham Palace.

The Conservative MP was live on air with his guest, former BBC royal correspondent (and much else besides) Michael Cole when a controlled explosion took place, which viewers could clearly hear in the background.

But it’s not the bang that we’re hear for – well, it is – but mostly it’s the response of Rees-Mogg and Cole (in particular) to police officers telling them to evacuate their studio outside the palace and which looks uncannily similar to portable toilet building without the urinal.

Their spiralling indignation is an absolute delight – and peak GB News.

Cole, a former right hand man to Mohamed Al Fayed, said he’d been to ‘many, many war zones under pressure, beaten up, covered civil wars, great disturbances, all out wars around the world. Beirut for 10 years, civil war’.

‘Can we just find out because overreaction is not what the British are about. We do have a certain amount of decorum on occasions like this. And so I want to hear the final word. I want to see a policeman or woman here telling us that we can no longer broadcast.’

And there was this, from Rees-Mogg.

‘I’m very sorry to say it is good evening from me for the time being – as I think that was a controlled explosion in the background, that what it sounded like to me, we will no doubt find out later … ‘perhaps my sangfroid has been unduly ‘sang’ and not enough ‘froid’, if I’ve got my French right’.

Peak GB News, or something very close to it.

Here’s what other GB News presenters made of it.

But more likely – surely – this.

Source Twitter @GraemeDemianyk