OVER the years in this column I have written many times I have not been a fan of Good Morning Britain (GMB) host Piers Morgan.

It all stemmed from a 2017 twitter spat I had with him, in which I called for him to be sacked over tweets about Ariana Grande (he later deleted a tweet, in one of those rare times he ever has done so on the platform, and would go on to apologise to her).

I've questioned some of his action as stunts, from ranting about a Greggs sausage roll to identifying as a penguin.

It all appeared to be the actions of a self publicist attempting to get ratings.

But, when we are in a war as we are right now, I'm willing to put that aside and hold my hands up. I am very glad the producers didn’t follow my advice about sacking him because cometh the hour, cometh the man.

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He has been one of the few outstanding national journalists during this crisis, so credit where credit is due.

Very early on he was one of the few to recognise the pandemic for what it would become, and was calling for a lockdown. His followers slammed him for it, all along the lines of 'I used to like you, you are scaremongering'.

I had a similar response when I wrote a column 'take this threat seriously', back on March 10.

But the main reason he should be praised is everyday he is doing what journalists should be, holding this government to account.

Too many times other national journalists have let things slip. For example, how many times have you heard a minister say 'we will follow the science before we act', and questions move on to a new subject.

It is a given the government is receiving scientific advice and using it to help make decisions - we don't need to be hearing that.

Piers Morgan has been one of the few to adopt the Paxman style questioning method, interrupting where necessary, and not letting ministers get away with stock answers like that.

As everyone recognises Covid-19 would be tough for any government to handle, but it is crucial we have journalists getting to the truth, identifying what the issues are, and how the government is handling them.

Sadly not enough national reporters have done that.

I never thought I would say this, but at the end of 2020 Piers Morgan should run away with every award going.