Susanna Reid fights back the tears speaking to elderly victim of BBC’s decision to stop free TV licences as Piers Morgan offers to pay for veteran
- Presenter told caller named Josephine ‘my heart breaks for you’ this morning
- Co-host Piers Morgan raged at the BBC, branding the decision an ‘outrage’
- Josephine begged Susanna and Piers to help reverse the corporation’s move
- She told the broadcaster’s director-general, Tony Hall, to ‘get in the real world’
- Are you Josephine? Email s.murphy-bates@mailonline.co.uk or call 020 3615 2221
Susanna Reid broke down as a weeping elderly woman begged her to stop the BBC snatching her entertainment as Piers Morgan pledged to fork out for a D-Day veteran who will lose his free TV licence.
Pensioner Josephine urged the broadcaster to ‘get in the real word’ as she discussed its decision to scrap free TV licences for the over-75s during a Good Morning Britain phone-in.
She told the presenter it will hit her husband particularly hard and accused the corporation of targeting elderly people.
Susanna and her co-host Piers Morgan had encouraged people to call in and share their disgust as they called on the corporation to rethink the move.
When asked if she had a message for Tony Hall, Josephine branded the director-general ‘old fashioned’ and slammed him for ‘penalising the elderly’.
As Susanna called the move an ‘outrage’, she told the caller: ‘My heart breaks for you.’
While she fought back tears, Piers called on the 10 contenders for the Conservative Party leadership to make clear what they would do as Prime Minister.
Piers Morgan branded the scrapping of the licence fee ‘terrible’ as Susanna Reid said it was an ‘outrage’ while Josephine cried to them on the phone
Josephine left fans of the show in tears as they took to Twitter to express sympathy for her and others.
One wrote: ‘Well Josephine on Good Morning Britian #GMB has made me cry. That’s a reality.’
Another tweeted: ‘Listening to pensioners on @GMB reduced to tears because the @BBC are taking away their lifeline is utterly heartbreaking.’
Susanna Reid broke down on Good Morning Britain today as Josephine described the impact scrapping the licence would have on her husband
Other viewers raged against the decision and the impact it will have on military veterans as Piers Morgan pledged to pay the TV licence fee for a D-Day veteran who flirted with Melania Trump during the US President’s state visit.
Thomas Cuthbert, a guest on yesterday’s show, is among those who face losing out. The 93-year-old joked with Donald Trump ‘if I was 20 years younger’ when he met the president and First Lady.
After his remarks hit headlines, the veteran told the show’s presenters that he had no idea what came over him.
Pictured: Thomas Cuthbert meets President Trump and First Lady Melania. He hit headlines during the state visit for saying ‘if I was 20 years younger’
Carole Monk (far-left), daughter of Thomas Cuthbert (pictured on yesterday’s Good Morning Britain) told today’s show that he faces difficult decisions before Piers pledged to pay his licence for him
His daughter told the show today: ‘He’s going to be pretty angry – the veterans, all the elderly depend on the TV. It’s their lifeline. It makes you wonder what they are going to do next to them.’
As she feared that her father would have to make difficult decisions abotu hsi money despite the family helping out, Piers said: ‘I will pay his TV licence as long as he needs.
‘Whatever happens – he moved us so much. Take it from me – I will pay for his licence.’