Good Morning Britain was branded “embarrassing in the extreme” by viewers after Ed Balls interviewed his wife Home Secretary Yvette Cooper as she defended the Government’s handling of the riots. The Mail has more.
Ed, 57, interviewed Home Secretary Yvette, 55, alongside Kate Garraway…
Yvette was on the breakfast programme to discuss whether the police’s response to the nationwide riots had been sufficient.
Ed and Kate questioned Yvette on the Government’s refusal to label the riots “Islamophobic”, as posed earlier in the programme by Zarah Sultana.
Yvette began: “What we’ve seen on the streets of some cities and towns over the weekend frankly is criminal violence and thuggery. That is what it is first and foremost, and that’s why it needs the full force of the law behind it.”
She added: “We have certainly seen some targeted attacks on mosques, and that clearly reflects Islamophobia.”
Largely ignoring the content of the interview, GMB viewers took exception to the decision to put Ed in such a compromising position on X, formerly Twitter.
They wrote: “Does @GMB realise just how utterly ridiculous it looks by continuing to invite @edballs on as a presenter whilst he defends the actions of the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, his wife!?” …
“Ed who’s just treated @zarahsultana with contempt for suggesting MSM plays it’s part in whipping up hate is about to interview his wife in an obvious conflict of interests even for a five-year-old viewer. Stick to Kerry Katona and Strictly #Gmb.”
“Interesting that Ed Balls doesn’t interrupt his wife when interviewing but with other guests he does every five mins #gmb #goodmorningbritain.”
“Ed Balls is going to interview his wife? How is this @GMB being impartial and not a huge conflict of interest, embarrassing in the extreme… and he hasn’t talked to the Home Secretary about her job and the situation… really?”
“Is it really appropriate that Ed Balls is hosting news coverage directly concerning the response to the protests of his wife and the Government she is a part of?”
“Sorry this is insane! You can’t have Ed Balls on a programme ‘interviewing’ his own wife, what a stupid stupid editorial decision! I can’t believe Yvette Cooper went along with this!”
“Why is Yvette Cooper’s husband (Ed Balls) allowed to defend her abysmal handling of the race riots? I’m not sure this is allowed?”
“I don’t think Ed Balls should be interviewing Yvette Cooper on GMB. They’re a married couple. It’s ridiculous.”
“Surely good practice would mean that Ed Balls should not be on a programme that is featuring his wife, the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper . Get it sorted @gmb.”
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