 On 20 October 2010, following a live BBC News at Six report outside Parliament for the 2010 Spending Review, Robinson silently took the anti-war, anti-cuts placard that had been waved directly behind him throughout, broke it in two and stamped on it. Afterwards, another protester, who had climbed the steps of the gantry where the BBC were broadcasting to film the protest on a mobile phone, said: "You should be ashamed of yourself, mate. Shame on you!" Robinson replied "I 'm not remotely ashamed of myself. Why should I be ashamed of myself?". He wrote in his blog afterwards: "I lost my temper and I regret that. However, as I explained afterwards to the protesters who disrupted my broadcast, there are many opportunities to debate whether the troops should be out of Afghanistan without the need to stick a sign on a long pole and wave it in front of a camera." Some days later, Robinson read out a jokily ambiguous "letter of apology" on Have I Got News For You?, broadcast on 4 November 2010.
