Susanna Reid and Piers Morgan clash on Good Morning Britain over leaving children home alone

PIERS Morgan and Susanna Reid clashed in spectacular fashion on Wednesday's Good Morning Britain as they discussed when it was acceptable for parents to leave their children home alone.

The presenters were joined by Natasha Harding, who used to leave her five-year-old son home alone for a few minutes at a time when she needed to pop to the shop across the road from her home, and Anne Longfield who is the Children's Commissioner for England, and as the group discussed the issue, Piers and Susanna started to bicker.

Susanna said: "It’s a matter of the parents judgement, a matter of the circumstances, the practicalities.

"For instance if you’re a parent working a night shift,  and then you spend a lot of the day asleep and you’re in the house and your five year old is effectively  on their own does that also count as neglect?"

As she spoke, Piers started shouting "No, no, no, no", and as she posed the question, he replied: "Yes. Damn right it does.

"Sorry, a five-year-old child you leave for hours on end while you dose upstairs being bone idle? No no no, it is laziness."

When Susanna pointed out she was just posing the question about parents who work night shifts, Piers was having none of it, saying: "If you can’t be bothered to be awake when your child of five is in the house, if you can’t be bothered to take your five-year-old to the shop then don’t have children."

However Susanna was quick to leap to Natasha's defence as she had articulately explained her reasons for leaving her son, citing how she could see him at all times from the shop as she popped across the road while he watched the TV.

She said: "I think you’re the voice of many, many parents who find themselves in this situation," but Piers quickly replied: "You may well be but it’s right."

Susanna fired back: "But Piers you’re not necessarily right just because you’ve got the loudest voice."

Keen to have the last word, he replied: "I’m right because I’m right on this and I bet you most of our viewers agree with me."

Earlier in the interview, Natasha explained how she could see her son at all times when she left the house and she had minimised risks to make sure he would be safe as he watched the TV for the couple of minutes she was gone.

As father-of-four Piers railed at Natasha, Susanna came to her defence, saying: "I think you’re putting up an incredibly good defence of something which I think a lot of parents  experience every day,  particularly when they’re on their own and there is nobody else to look after that child at that particular point."

Piers looked at his co-star, who is also a mother of three, in shock, saying: "No excuse, no excuse I’m sorry, would you do this?";

Ignoring her co-host, Susanna continued: "And I think that practically, it is something that parents experience all the time. I think that when you are home alone with your child and you need to nip and get a pint of milk or whatever it is then sometimes there are circumstances."

Piers butted in once again and asked: "Am I wrong here? What I did with my boys and my daughter, is if I was in charge of them,  if they are in my custody, if I want to go buy a pint of milk I’d say you’re coming with me, I wouldn’t just leave them on their own.

"I think it’s lazy not to do that, and I think it’s wrong  to put responsibility on your child to say ‘I’ll be fine thanks mummy’ they’re too young I think."