Andrew Pierce was treated to a vital lesson on the importance of public libraries on today’s Good Morning Britain.
The Daily Mail columnist suggested the crucial information centres will be first on the scrapheap as local councils struggle to pay the bills.
Two of England’s largest Tory-run local authorities have warned the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, that they will be forced to declare bankruptcy within the next few months because of the unprecedented financial crisis enveloping them both.
The leaders of Kent and Hampshire county councils said even “drastic cuts” to current services would not be enough to patch up the huge holes in their budgets created by soaring inflation and rising pressures in adult and children’s social care.
Discussing the matter on GMB, Pierce said local councils will have to make a choice about whether they continue to fund libraries.
“How many families go to a library? I haven’t been to a library for 30 years,” he said.
At which point presenter Susanna Reid stepped in to put him right – and she did it magnificently.
Watch the clip in full below:
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