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Iain Dale staged a dramatic walk-out halfway through being interviewed on today's Good Morning Britain, petulantly claiming he wasn't allowed to speak.

The LBC radio presenter and right-wing commentator stormed off set despite Kate Garraway and Ben Shephard begging him to stay.

Iain walked out during a debate about the teenage attacker of a six-year-old boy who was thrown from the 10th floor of the Tate Modern.

Jonty Bravery, who has autism, has admitted attempted murder and is due to be sentenced later this month.

Economics commentator Grace Blakeley blasted government cuts in children's mental health services and the Tory policy of austerity, which Iain branded "utter, utter rubbish".

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"It's nothing to do with cuts, it's to do with people doing the sensible thing and reporting something - you don't have to have thousands of pounds to be able to be sensible."

He was cut off by Grace and BBC radio presenter Nihal Arthanayake, who pointed out cuts may have meant there weren't enough resources to provide Bravery with a care worker to accompany him everywhere.

"To just sweep that away without any facts and just say, 'oh, it's not about resources'..." pointed out Nihal.

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As Grace spoke about the "parlous state" of children's social care, Iain could be heard muttering "ridiculous".

"So you suggest... OK, I won't speak," he pouted.

"No, come on Iain, I would like you to," said Kate.

"Right, that's it," Iain barked as he stood up to remove his microphone.

"No, no, no, Iain, don't go," begged Ben.

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Wow. What a fit of pique, what a grown-up scenario. He's a West Ham fan," snarked Nihal. "How bizarre."

"That's a shame as I would have liked to have heard what Iain had to say," said Kate as Grace laughed, "Can you no-platform yourself?"

"We do appreciate Iain's views on all sorts of issues," added Ben.

Iain later took to Twitter to blast the ITV show, insisting he was being "closed down", although he apologised to the hosts for his behaviour.

"I enjoy my early mornings on @GMB with @Jacqui_Smith1 because they’re all about civilised discussion. Today’s was not. It was about closing me down," he wrote.

"I decided it wasn't worth hanging around. Apologies to @kategarraway, @benshephard& @CharlotteHawkns but enough is enough."

(Image: ITV)

Grace has now responded to Iain's walk-out on Mirror Online, writing: "I was about to respond by pointing out that a series of experts – from the Children’s Commissioner, to the Association of Directors of Children’s Services, to the British Medical Association – have said that austerity is compromising the quality of children’s social care services but before I could finish, Dale tore off his microphone and stormed off the set.

"The Twitter response was swift and predictable.

"I was a ‘gobby cow’ and ‘the hard left Katie Hopkins’ for talking about the impact of austerity on our most vulnerable children.

"Dale, on the other hand, was venerated as a hero by accounts such as ‘Traditional Britain’."

Meanwhile, council leaders have been warning for years about the dire state of children’s social care after cuts to their budgets from government.

Town halls have been allowed to raise an extra 2% to 3% in council tax to plug the gap.

But despite this the Local Government Association warned of a £1.4bn funding gap in 2020/21 alone. Speaking in August, the LGA said councils had been forced to overspend on their budgets by £800m a year earlier.

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Chair of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, Anntoinette Bramble, said in August: “Councils want to make sure that children can get the best, rather than just get by, and that means investing in the right services to reach them at the right time.

“Funding pressures coinciding with huge increases in demand mean it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to do that.

“Up to 1,796 referrals are made to council children’s social services every day - more than one referral a minute.

“In order to keep children at most risk safe, councils up and down the country have been forced to find savings from non-statutory or discretionary budgets, which includes valuable early intervention and prevention support that can stop children and families reaching crisis point.

"This is not sustainable.”

*Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV