'Maybe you weren't educated properly' - BBC presenter slammed by ten-year-old girl

10-year-old Charlotte (right) and fellow young guest Henrietta, from Worcester, took it in turns to grill Mr Neil (left) about the sugar tax. Photo: BBC Two

Veteran broadcaster Andrew Neil was left stunned during a debate about the sugar tax on children's channel CBBC when a 10-year-old girl demolished his argument and suggested he wasn't "educated properly enough" to understand healthy living.

The stunning put down by schoolgirl Charlotte, from Wirral, left the Daily Politics presenter reeling in shock, with the red-faced journalist jokily admitting that "many people have said that".

Charlotte put the former editor of the Sunday Times to the sword with her carefully prepared notes and impressive statistics about the sugar tax and the idea of the nanny state.

Mr Neil was appearing on CBBC's All Over the Workplace, in which viewers learn how jobs work behind the scenes.

10-year-old Charlotte and fellow young guest Henrietta, from Worcester, took it in turns to grill Mr Neil about the sugar tax.

During the discussion, the schoolgirls nods in understanding while the presenter asks whether the sugar tax is another example of the nanny state.

Charlotte, who taps her finger to the point in her notes, replies: "Mr Neil, do you remember on January 31st 1983 when seat belts were made compulsory?"

"It wasn't a popular idea. People didn't like it. But do you know how many lives it saved a year?

"Three hundred lives per year because the government did something."

The veteran TV presenter, who usually interviews leading public figures, then speaks to his other guest, Henrietta, from Worcester, and asks her what she thinks of it all.

She replies: "If it's saving lives and it's helping the NHS, I think we should be told what to do."

The presenter then addresses both schoolgirls saying: "When I was your age and someone told me not to do something that usually meant I tried to do it."

Charlotte then concludes the segment by responding: "Well, maybe you weren't educated properly enough about health and wellbeing."

Slightly taken aback, Mr Neil responds: "Many people have said that".

Mr Neil's discussion with the schoolgirls took place before George Osborne's sugar tax was unveiled this week in his budget.

-Daily Mail