News presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy taken off air for calling Steve Baker 'c***'

The lead presenter of Britain's Channel 4 News was on Thursday taken off air for a week after swearing at a Conservative minister following an interview.

The incident involving presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy came after a feisty interview with Northern Ireland minister Steve Baker in off-air comments picked up by microphones.

"Channel 4 has a strict code of conduct for all its employees, including its programming teams and on-air presenters, and takes any breaches seriously," the public broadcaster said in a statement.

"Following an off-air incident, Channel 4 News anchor Krishnan Guru-Murthy has been taken off air for a week."

Krishnan Guru-Murthy has made an apology "unreservedly" to Baker over calling the latter a "c***" in what he described an "unguarded moment". The minister accepted the apology but also said on another occasion that he hoped that Guru-Murthy was sacked by his channel.

According to the journalist, the remark came after "a robust interview" with Baker but it was "beneath the standards I set myself", the Independent reported.

Guru-Murthy was heard on a livestream saying "what a c***" during an off-air moment following the interview with the minister.

“After a robust interview with Steve Baker MP I used a very offensive word in an unguarded moment off air," he later said in a tweet.

“While it was not broadcast that word in any context is beneath the standards I set myself and I apologise unreservedly."

Baker later replied to the tweet saying, “I appreciate you apologising. Thank You."

But, he told John Pienaar on Times Radio later that he hoped Channel 4 sacked Guru-Murthy, the report added.

“I had an interview earlier with a journalist I don’t have a great deal of regard for, who I felt always misrepresenting the situation through the construction of his question, which I called out, I think live on air, or I thought it was a pre-record," the minister said.

“And he clearly didn’t like that, quite right, too. But I’d be quite honest, I spent a long time live on air, calling him out on his contact as a journalist and glad to do so any time.

“But it’s most unfortunate that he has sworn on air like that. If it’s in breach of his code of conduct, I do hope they sack him – it would be a service to the public.”

(With inputs from AFP)