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This Morning sparked a furious debate online today regarding the Alfie Evans case.

Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford were joined by Dr Ranj Singh and Dr Sammy Batt-Rawden as they spoke out against Alfie Evans protesters abusing staff.

This comes after Alfie's dad Tom Evans called on supporters to "stand down".

Mr Evans and Alfie's mum Kate James took their case to the Court of Appeal after the 23-month-old, who has a degenerative brain disease, had his life support withdrawn at Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool.

NHS staff in Liverpool have been told to hide their uniforms over fears of abuse.

(Image: ITV) (Image: ITV) (Image: Daily Mirror)

Dr Batt-Rawden said that she had found it hard to see medical staff "vilified" in such a way, while Dr Singh said that "a few" of the protesters had behaved "disgustingly". He explained that they were making it difficult for other children in the hospital.

Dr Singh also urged people to "look at the court papers".

Meanwhile Dr Batt-Rawden added, about the protesters hurling abuse at staff: "Quite frankly I think that they need to take a good hard look at themselves. I am really shocked and dismayed to see what has been going on at Alder Hay. I cannot imagine how the doctors are continuing to do their jobs.

(Image: ITV)

"They shouldn't be turning up to their jobs concerned with their safety."

And viewers generally praised the debate for being "insightful" and "well-informed.

One tweeted: "2 docs on #ThisMorning are absolutely correct.The reason why the hospital is getting so much abuse is because his parents feel the need to post it all over the internet and do interviews saying the doctors are killing their son, so everyone on Social media jumps on the bandwagon."

Another agreed, commenting: "Totally agree with everything these doctors are saying & it's about time we heard the perspective of the hospital & medical staff there. It must be terrifying dealing with these protests for them & the other families who have to attend the hospital. #ThisMorning."

But others took issue with the tone and insisted that the protesters had generally been peaceful.

A viewer remarked: "#ThisMorning the majority of those people were peaceful protestors!! There are a number of live videos that show the supporters being very respectful apart from the one time they stormed the hospital, the media just do not want to report that!!"

*This Morning airs weekdays at 10.30am on ITV