GMB: Adil Ray delivers passionate defence of foreign NHS staff in heated exchange with Edwina Currie

Presenter was praised for his words on social media

Good Morning Britain presenter Adil Ray delivered an impassioned speech about migrant staff in the NHS during a heated exchange with former Conservative MP Edwina Currie.

Currie appeared on the popular ITV chat show on Monday 21 June to discuss the number of foreign workers currently employed by the NHS.

Speaking on the series, Ray said: “Those migrant doctors have held up the NHS since the 1960s, they are British. As soon as someone comes to this country to work they are British.

“This idea that we should talk about our own... who are our own? Was my father a migrant? Was he our own? We are all our own. I don’t get this idea that suddenly the migrants who have been here for 50 years and continue to come in aren’t British, they are our own too.”

He continued: “Who do you actually mean when you say ‘our own’? Someone who was only born in the UK? [Whose] parents have only been born here?”

In response, Currie told the presenter to “calm down”, and accused him of “turning into Piers Morgan”.

Morgan departed as host of GMB earlier this year after a controversial on-air rant about Meghan Markle.

Ray replied: “I don’t care who I’m turning into, we’re talking about a really important subject, it doesn’t matter who I’m turning into, just tell me what is the difference between ‘our own’ and people like my father.”

Viewers praised Ray’s comments on social media.

“Adil Ray is an absolute legend,” wrote one person, in response to the incident.

“I’ll be honest I was sceptical when @adilray replaced Piers Morgan on @GMB,” wrote another, “but he is definitely one of the better presenters.

“Argues his points with real intelligence and calmness, rather than simply shouting.”

Good Morning Britain can be watched weekdays from 6am on ITV.