COMMENTATOR Toby Young sparked anger online this morning after taking part in a Good Morning Britain discussion on whether scientists can be trusted following the resignation of professor Neil Ferguson.

The senior scientific adviser, whose work was instrumental in forming current restrictions, left his position after it was revealed he had broken lockdown twice to visit his lover.

Discussing the news this morning, GMB invited Young onto the programme in a section headlined: “Can we trust the scientists?”

It comes little over a month after Young caused widespread anger by saying the UK Government’s willingness to spend a lot of money to limit the effects of the coronavirus outbreak was “irresponsible”.

READ MORE: Coronavirus: Fury over Toby Young's claims about elderly people

Shortly after lockdown was introduced, he wrote in a column: “Even if we accept the statistical modelling of Dr Neil Ferguson’s team at Imperial College, which I’ll come to in a minute, spending £350 billion to prolong the lives of a few hundred thousand mostly elderly people is an irresponsible use of taxpayer’s money.”

National columnist Ruth Wishart branded Young “heartless” over the comments while Byline Times editor Peter Jukes warned the “far-right eugenicist” views could be “outright deadly” during a pandemic.

This morning on Twitter, reacting to Young’s appearance on GMB, law and technology expert Andres Guadamuz said he was “astounded”.

He posted: “Turned on the TV and by pure chance I watched a "debate" on lockdown between @devisridhar and Toby Young. I'm astounded at how the media keeps giving air to uninformed polemicists, the framing makes it look like Young's opinion is equally valid, while he decries expert advice.

“UK Media is complicit on the dreadful death figures. The reporting on Italy and Spain reeked of jingoism and contempt for the chaotic southerners. ‘It could never happen here’ was the norm.”

Meanwhile Cambridge-trained Dr Rohin Francis said Young’s appearance was a “new low” for GMB.

He posted: “Seeing such a renowned scientist & world-class communicator of science as Prof Devi Sridhar be given equal billing to sentient ham and breast-obsessive Toby Young is a new low for @GMB. And this is a show that employs Piers Morgan. Utter lack of respect from producers.”

In his column for The Critic Mag back in March Young said the suspected the Government had "overreacted" to the coronavirus crisis.

He said he viewed his own death as “acceptable collateral damage” to prevent GDP dropping significantly and damaging more lives in the long-term.

His appearance on the GMB debate came after the UK death toll became the highest in Europe.