The state of UK politics means there is no need for The Thick of It, and the US political scene is so absurd currently that it would be "beyond sitcom territory" to produce Veep, said the satirist who founded both programmes.

Armando Iannucci was also asked about his creations Alan Partridge and Malcolm Tucker when he spoke to Daily Politics reporter Ellie Price.

He said: "If I had done an episode in which the minister got up and the letters starting falling off behind her, I would have rejected that as completely over the top, and unbelievable.”