John Bercow tells Susanna Reid Boris Johnson is her ‘favourite puppy dog’ - and she isn’t impressed

John Bercow and Good Morning Britain host Susanna Reid have had a tense fight about theBoris Johnson and it made for uncomfortable viewing.

Appearing on the breakfast show on Tuesday, the former Speaker of the House of Commons told Reid that by referring to the Prime Minister simply as “Boris”, she gave the impression that she viewed him as a “puppy dog”.

Bercow added that by doing so she was not adequately holding the PM to account for “spewing falsehoods on a sustained and uninterrupted basis”,

After Reid replied: “I’m not here to defend the Prime Minister,” Bercow joked: “No, you just like calling him Boris, because he’s your favourite puppy dog, apparently.”

The GMB host was not impressed.

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She told her guest: “That’s a bit insulting towards me, I think a lot of people call him Boris in the same way that a lot of people call him Keir and I would call you John.”

The pair had been discussing the economy when the heated exchange took place. Bercow and Alistair Campbell - Reid’s temporary co-host, claimed Johnson had lied about economic growth under his Conservative government.

Bercow said none of the other Prime Ministers he had worked with “misled” Parliament in the same way, adding that the Speaker has “very limited powers” to stop MPs lying in the House of Commons.

And while the “puppy dog” jibe raised eyebrows, Twitter users largely agreed with Bercow – insisting it was important to raise these issues on national television.

Others, however, hit out at his behaviour.

One wrote: “I am not Susanna Reid’s biggest fan but the spectacle of Alastair Campbell and John Bercow attacking her in a pincer movement on ITV Breakfast was not very palatable. Bercow suggested that in calling the PM Boris, she was treating like a cute little puppy. It’s his name muppet!!”

Still, Bercow is not the first to argue that calling the PM “Boris” makes him seem like a lighthearted character, not the leader of the UK.

Regardless of who won the debate, we doubt Bercow and Reid - or John and Susanna - have struck up much of a friendship from it.