Good Morning Britain has defended allowing Yvette Cooper to be interviewed by her spouse Ed Balls.
The Home Secretary, 55, appeared on the ITV daytime show to discuss the current riots plaguing the UK and the government’s response.
Over the past week, police have been faced with violence in Rotherham, Middlesbrough, Bristol, Bolton and other parts of the UK with extremists smashing properties and lighting fires, while also attacking officers.
She was questioned about the situation by 57-year-old Balls, who was a former Labour cabinet minister and is now a regular presenter on GMB, as well as co-host Kate Garraway.
Viewers questioned whether their relationship had an impact on the interview, leading the programme to issue a response.
A spokesperson said: ‘Following a weekend of rioting and national unrest, GMB featured a range of interviews and discussion around this national emergency on today’s programme which included James Cleverly, shadow home secretary, and Yvette Cooper, home secretary.
‘We are satisfied that these interviews were balanced, fair and duly impartial.’
Viewers disagreed with their conclusion and took to social media to question whether somebody else would have been better placed to conduct the interview.
‘There kind of isn’t really a defence for this though is there,’ said Elle Hunt in response to ITV’s statement.
‘I happen to like both Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper but they shouldn’t be interviewing each other about serious public policy issues on national television,’ added Duncan Flynn on X.
Others called the interview ‘ridiculous’, ‘insane’ and a ‘stupid editorial decision’.
Some believed that this was part of a bigger issue, and that Balls should step away from GMB.
‘Now that Yvette Cooper is now a government minister (Home Secretary),@GMB should 100% stand Ed Balls (her husband) down. That’s a massive conflict of interest. @GMB @ITV …do what is right and resolve this issue immediately,’ typed account Mr Smooth EMT.
Mark Oosterveen expressed concerns Balls varied his interview tactics: ‘This morning, Ed Balls interviewed a Muslim MP, interrupting her and disputing everything. He then had the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper on and gave her the softest interview you could imagine. Balls and Cooper are husband and wife by the way. This is part of the problem.’
At the start of the programme, Labour MP for Coventry South, Zarah Sultana, also spoke on the current violence and shared why it was so important that the attacks were called Islamophobic amongst other issues.
Balls repeatedly asked Sultana if she believed immigration should be controlled, sometimes interrupting her. He then said Prime Minister Keir Stermer and Cooper, have condemned the attacks on mosques and racism.
‘I don’t know if they’ve used the term Islamophobia,’ he added. ‘They haven’t,’ Sultana interjected.
Balls was criticised for the interview with some viewers saying they were ‘disgusted’ and ‘uncomfortable’ watching the interaction.
In the episode, which was aired yesterday, Balls was asked by Garraway how much he’d been able to speak to Cooper about the situation before the interview, he explained it had been minimal due to her busy schedule.
Once the interview was underway, Balls said: ‘Can I ask, because we’ve talked about this a few times in the last few days – like many of our viewers will have done at home since those terrible killings in Southport – there have been identifiable individuals on social media who have been inciting not just riots but violence.’
He then asked if social media companies, the police, and the government need to do more to stop the use of racist language and falsehoods.
‘Well you’re right, Ed,’ she responded. ‘We have seen things appearing online that are clearly criminal. Social media has put rocket boosters under far-right extremist organisations and also some of the violence we have seen. Things that are criminal offline are also criminal online.’
Balls and Cooper married in 1998 and have three children together.
This is Cooper’s first time in government for 14 years, having been part of the Opposition while the Conservatives were in charge.
Metro.co.uk has contacted Ed Ball’s representatives for comment.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV1.
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