He then handed Mr Cameron a list of names of people who were alleged on the internet to be paedophiles. He said: "It took me three minutes last night to continually find a list of the same names. Will you be speaking to these people?"
As Mr Schofield passed the list to Mr Cameron, some of the information was briefly visible. Mr Cameron warned Mr Schofield against embarking on a "witch hunt". He said: "I'm worried about the sort of thing you are doing right now, giving me a list of names off the internet. This is what the police are for."
Schofield later apologised, saying: "If any viewer was able to identify anyone listed, I would like to apologise and stress that was never my intention.
"I was not accusing anyone of anything and it is essential that it is understood that I would never be part of any kind of witch hunt. Unfortunately there may have been a misjudged camera angle for a split second as I showed the Prime Minister some information I had obtained from the internet.
"I asked for his reaction to give him the opportunity to make a point which he very clearly made about the dangers of any witch hunt."
Peter Fincham, ITV's director of television, said: "I've spoken to Phillip Schofield myself. He realises his mistake. He apologised for it extremely fully and extremely quickly and I discussed that with him and I think he's under no illusions that this was a lapse in ITV journalism; this is something we shouldn't have done." He added: "I'm not happy that this happened. We have editorial processes and checks in place and, to be honest with you, they weren't followed, so I'm not happy about that."
Lord McAlpine, 70, was last week applauded by fellow diners in a London restaurant in a show of support that left him feeling "buoyed", said friends.
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