Kate Garraway and Priti Patel clashed in a fiery exchange over the Christmas lockdown rules on Good Morning Britain.

The Home Secretary appeared on Thursday morning’s instalment of the show opposite Kate and her co-host Ben Shephard.

They discussed the Christmas rules following Boris Johnson’s Downing Street press conference where the Prime Minister refused to reverse his plan to relax Covid-19 restrictions over Christmas, despite warnings from experts.

The current law allows three households to mix between December 23 and 27 apart from in Wales where that rule has been changed to two.

The debate began when Priti Patel was explaining how the virus was spreading across the country.

Watch the debate here:

“My point is about the responsibility,” said Kate.

“If the numbers go up in January, if there are increased deaths and it can be traced in a way that you have traced other moments when there has been a surge, who should we blame?”

Patel replied: “I don’t think this is about blaming anybody, Kate”

Kate added: “Ok, who is responsible? Are you saying it will be us as individuals or will it be the construction of the rules?” 

Patel said: “I don’t think this is about blaming at all, the fact of the matter is we’re living with this virus and the virus is spreading.

“We all understand the parameters of coronavirus, we all know about social distancing, face coverings and also hygiene issues.

“But minimising contact with people actually helps to stop the spread of the virus and infection control is crucial.”

Priti Patel went on to reveal her plans for Christmas saying she would be spending the day with her “very,very tight and small family bubble”.