The Catch-up: What's the beef between Lorraine Kelly and Esther McVey?

What happened?

The war of words between TV presenter Lorraine Kelly and her former colleague and Tory leadership hopeful Esther McVey intensified today. Rumours of a feud between the two women have swirled after Kelly appeared to “snub” McVey live on air on Monday, when the politician was a guest on ITV’s Good Morning Britain.

Who is saying what?

After the awkward on-air moment, McVey today claimed Kelly was angry that she had been promoted above her when the two worked at GMTV. McVey said: “Well, we used to share a dressing room and she used to be the programme afterwards and obviously she used to be partnered with Eamonn Holmes and then I was promoted to be partnering with Eamonn Holmes.”

Kelly said she was 'baffled' by the claim, adding she disagrees with McVey's position on LGBTQ+ rights. Asked if she was 'best friends' with McVey, Kelly said: “I will be genuinely honest with you, I don’t remember.” Regarding the would-be prime minister's policies, Kelly said: “I strongly disagree with her on LGBT rights and I just felt like I’ve had enough of this, we’ve had two-and-a-half years of going round in circles over Brexit and now we’ve got people at each other’s throats and its got to stop.” McVey has been criticised for saying parents should be able to withdraw their children from lessons where they are taught about LGBT relationships.

Read more:

Lorraine Kelly ‘baffled’ over Esther McVey’s GMTV claims (PA Entertainment)

What is Lorraine Kelly’s problem with Esther McVey? (Yahoo Celebrity UK)

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How the Tories are wasting time as Brexit looms (HuffPost)

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Labour reveals plan to block no-deal Brexit

Labour has tabled a cross-party motion in a bid to block a no-deal Brexit. It is understood the party will force a vote in the House of Commons on Wednesday, which would - if passed - prevent the UK crashing out without an agreement. If Labour’s move is successful, it would mean the Prime Minister (Theresa May’s successor), would have to go back to Brussels to ask for an extension. Read the full story here (The Independent)

Parts of UK flooded as more downpours expected

Britain’s roads and rail network took a battering today as a month’s worth of rain fell in one day in parts of Britain. Weather warnings remain in place for much of Tuesday, with forecasters predicting that some areas of the UK could be inundated with up to 4in (100mm) of rain this week. The downpours led to flooding across roads and railway lines, with some sections of track completely underwater and sinkholes opening up on the M25. Read the full story here (Sky News)

Tory leadership candidate Mark Harper MP was asked many questions as he launched his campaign to become Tory leader, but had to wait to the end for the most serious of them…(Sky News)

571

In the past 250 years, the number of plant species that have disappeared is more than twice the number of birds, mammals and amphibians recorded as extinct, according to a shocking new study. Scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Stockholm University carried out a groundbreaking global analysis of all plant extinction records to come up with the figure of 571. Read the full story here (The Telegraph)