I freely admit that I was one of those who thought Gavin Williamson’s “Shut up and go away” instruction to the Kremlin after the Salisbury nerve-agent attack was risible. Defence secretary as petulant pre-adolescent. Not a good image.

That was two months ago and to my knowledge Williamson has yet to properly respond to the scorn his remark drew. So when he made a live appearance on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Tuesday (I’m covering for Piers Morgan on the show) it seemed as good a time as any to ask him about it.

He joined us via satellite from a Midlands safari park to announce that British soldiers were off to Malawi to help protect wild elephants from poachers. Once my co-host Charlotte Hawkins and I had dealt with that, we played the embarrassing “shut up” clip and I politely asked him if, with the benefit of hindsight, he now regretted his choice of words back in March.

“I’d like to pay tribute to the health personnel who did an amazing job and … ” Oh, Christ. That old trick. Don’t like the question? Just give an answer to one you weren’t actually asked.

Play Video 2:18 Richard Madeley cuts off Gavin Williamson after he repeatedly dodges question on Russia – video

I interrupted him. “No, no, no. I asked you a straight question … do you regret using that kind of casual language? That’s the question. Could you answer it, please?” He nodded solemnly. “Well, what we saw is, we saw an atrocious attack on British soil. You saw a British citizen and his daughter targeted. And, actually, how we responded to that … ” Blah, blah, blah, and so on. I sighed, cutting in again. Would he please just answer this simple question?

Another sober nod of apparent comprehension; a third utterly shameless, droning obfuscation. I closed my eyes and spoke to him the way you might to a recalcitrant schoolchild, very slowly and distinctly. “Minister. The question is – I’ll try it one more time – DO YOU. REGRET. USING. CASUAL. TRUMP-ESQUE LANGUAGE. LIKE ‘Shut up and go away’?”

More unabashed talking around the topic. The shamelessness was breathtaking. Enough of this crap, I decided. “You’re not going to answer, are you? OK. All right. Interview terminated.”

Judging by his expression, this was not the outcome our defence secretary was expecting. But it wasn’t the one I was, either. I’ve been hosting live network news and discussion programmes for 30 years and I’ve never pulled the plug on anyone before. And I think that tells you something. It tells you how bad things have got; how well drilled today’s politicians have become at evasion, obfuscation and manipulation during interviews.

Fundamentally, it’s a control issue. By contumaciously refusing to answer my questions, Williamson was sending out the subtle but crystal-clear message: “You’re not running this interview, Madeley. I am. I’ll decide what we do and don’t talk about, not you. Trust me, I can stall you until the credits roll.”

I’ve had an overwhelmingly positive response to my snap decision to unceremoniously boot the defence secretary off air; in the news media, social media and on the street. I think it’s the most popular thing I’ve ever done on TV. So I’ve got a new rule when conducting interviews with politicians who won’t answer the question. Three strikes, and you’re out. If all of us interviewers adopt that principle, the quality of political debate on television will immediately and dramatically improve. And viewers will love us for it.

• Richard Madeley is a television presenter