GB News suspends Laurence Fox over comments to female journalist in Nick Fletcher 'minister for men' debate

His comments were made in a live discussion after PoliticsJOE reporter Ava Evans said on the BBC that calls for a minister for men "feed into the culture war".

Don Valley Conservative MP Mr Fletcher has long been calling for a dedicated minister for men and earlier this month said men are being failed by society and there is a need for a minister dedicated to championing their causes.

Evans said Fox's remarks made her feel "physically sick".

GB News said it would formally apologise to Ms Evans.

The broadcaster distanced itself from Fox's comments shortly after they were aired, with a statement describing the remarks as "totally unacceptable".

In a later statement issued on Wednesday morning, a GB News spokesperson said: "GB News has formally suspended Laurence Fox while we continue our investigation into comments he made on the channel last night.

"Mr Fox's suspension is effective immediately and he has been taken off air. We will be apologising formally to Ms Evans today."

Fox - who unsuccessfully ran to be London mayor in 2021 - said "I stand by every word of what I said" in a social media post on Wednesday morning.

The BBC discussion took place on Monday's episode of Politics Live and featured Evans alongside comedian and commentator Geoff Norcott, who raised the issue of men's mental health and the fact that, for men under 50, suicide remains the biggest cause of death.

When the host mentioned a call for a dedicated minister to address such issues, Evans - who is the political correspondent for online news platform PoliticsJOE - said: "I think that it feeds into the culture war a little bit, this minister for men argument.

"[Mental illness] is a crisis that's endemic throughout the country, not specific to men. And I think a lot of ministers bandy this about to - I'm sorry - make an enemy out of women."

She later said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the comments had been "a little rash" and that she was "actually very interested in a brief for a minister on young men's mental health".

Fox, who hosts his own show on GB News, was asked about the exchange while appearing as a guest on another of the channel's programmes, Dan Wootton Tonight, on Tuesday.

"We're past the watershed so I can say this. Show me a single self-respecting man that would like to climb into bed with that woman - ever, ever," he said.

"That little woman has been fed, spoon-fed oppression day after day after day.

"And she's sat there and I'm going like - if I met you in a bar and that was like sentence three, [the] chances of me just walking away are just huge.

"We need powerful strong, amazing women who make great points for themselves."

He then added: "Who'd want to shag that?"

Reacting on the same platform alongside a video clip of the exchange between Fox and Wootton, Evans said: "Laurence Fox just did a whole speech on GB News on why men apparently won't shag me? I feel physically sick."

Host Wootton, who could be seen laughing at points as Fox spoke, issued two statements apologising on X, calling the remarks "totally unacceptable" and saying he had reacted "out of shock".

He continued: "Having looked at the footage, I can see how inappropriate my reaction to his totally unacceptable remarks appears to be and want to be clear that I was in no way amused by the comments."

Fox's comments attracted widespread condemnation, including from Labour MP and shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry, who tagged media regulator Ofcom into a post on X in an apparent call for it to intervene.

"British television should never subject women to this sort of abuse," she said.

Ofcom said it had received "a number of complaints" about Fox's comments which it was "assessing" against its broadcast rules.

Earlier this month, Mr Fletcher relaunched his campaign for a dedicated ‘minister for men’ who would campaign for more male teachers and combat online misogynists like Andrew Tate.

He said the role would deal with specific health problems men face and try to improve their life chances, and suggested the minister, mirroring the existing Cabinet role for women, would campaign for more male primary teachers to provide role models for boys who do not have a father at home.

Other priorities could include encouraging boys to pursue careers such as nursing, improving paternity leave and tackling the influence of misogynists on social media such as Andrew Tate.

Asked on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour why the position was necessary, her said: ‘If men are living a better, happier, healthier life then it is better for women too, and it’s better for society as a whole.

Mr Fletcher told the Free Press: “Men and boys’ wellbeing is in crisis, but nothing is changing. It is getting worse.

“Thirteen men will die today by suicide, the Keepmoat could be filled five times over by the number of men in prison and boys are behind girls at school.

“We need a Minister for Men. They would hold government ministers to account and act as a focus for putting things right.”

He added: “Men and boys doing well means women and girls doing well too. We share our lives together and we need to look after both. We can think two thoughts at once.”