ITV has defended allowing Ed Balls to interview his wife Yvette Cooper on Good Morning Britain.
The broadcaster has come under fire after the former Labour cabinet minister โ who is now a regular presenter on the ITV breakfast show โ grilled his own wife during Mondayโs episode in her role as the home secretary.
A spokesperson for GMB has now said: โFollowing a weekend of rioting and national unrest, GMB featured a range of interviews and discussion around this national emergency on todayโs programme which included James Cleverly, shadow home secretary, and Yvette Cooper, home secretary.
โWe are satisfied that these interviews were balanced, fair and duly impartial.โ
GMB was branded โembarrassing to the extremeโ by viewers after Ed interviewed his wife Yvette Cooper in a โhuge conflict of interestsโ.
ITV has defended allowing Ed Balls to interview his wife Yvette Cooper on Good Morning Britain
The broadcaster has come under fire after the former Labour cabinet minister โ who is now a regular presenter on the ITV breakfast show โ grilled his own wife during Mondayโs episode in her role as the home secretary
Ed, 57, interviewed Home Secretary Yvette, 55, alongside Kate Garraway, 57, about the riots across the UK and asked what the police, government and social media sites should be doing.
Ed and Kate questioned Yvette on the governmentโs refusal to label the riots โIslamophobicโ, as posed earlier in the programme by Zarah Sultana.
Yvette began: โWhat weโve seen on the streets of some cities and towns over the weekend frankly is criminal violence and thuggery.
โThat is what it is first and foremost, and thatโs why it needs the full force of the law behind it.โ
She added: โWe have certainly seen some targetted attacks on mosques, and that clearly reflects Islamophobia.โ
Ed said: โCan I ask, because weโve talked about this a few times in the last few days โ like many of our viewers will have done at home since those terrible killings in Southport โ there have been identifiable individuals on social media who have been inciting not just riots but violence.
A spokesperson for GMB has now said: โWe are satisfied that these interviews were balanced, fair and duly impartial.โ
Largely ignoring the content of the interview, GMB viewers took exception to the decision to put Ed in that position on X, formerly Twitter
โTheyโve been using racist language and falsehoods. This is happening on the social media platforms.
โWhat should be done by the social media companies and the police and the government to stop this happening? Itโs been happening for a week.โ
She replied: โWell youโre right, Ed. We have seen things appearing online that are clearly criminal.
โSocial 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.โ
Ofcom has recently examined the issue of politicians hosting current affair programme after a debate over Nigel Farageโs appearances on GB News during the general election campaign.
The regulator has ruled that while the British public is โinstinctively uncomfortableโ with the practice, there wasnโt a โclear consensus for an outright banโ.
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.
Ed and Yvette have been married since 1998 and share three children: Joe Balls, Mady Balls, and Ellie Cooper
Chaos unfolded on the streets of Britain again in the wake of the Southport killings โ as hundreds of people took to the streets in Birmingham and Plymouth (pictured)
They wrote: โDoes @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!?โ
โHome Secretary Yvette Cooper is asked why the govt hasnโt used the term โIslamophobicโ. In her answer Cooper (finally) uses the word. As for husband interviewing wife, how does #GMB think this is tenable?โ
โEd whoโs just treated @zarahsultana with contempt for suggesting MSM plays itโs part in whipping up hate is about to interview his wife in an obvious conflict of interests even for a 5-year-old viewer. Stick to Kerry Katona and Strictly #Gmbโ
โInteresting that Ed Balls doesnโt interrupt his wife when interviewing but with other guests he does every 5 mins #gmb #goodmorningbritainโ
โEd Balls is going to interview his wife? How is this @GMB being impartial and NOT a huge conflict of interest, embarrassing in the extremeโฆ and he hasnโt talked to the home secretery about her job and the situationโฆ really? (sic)โ
โIs 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?โ
Violence erupted again in Belfast last night amid ongoing rioting around the UK
โSorry this is insane! You canโt have Ed Balls on a program โinterviewingโ his own wife, what a stupid stupid editorial decision! I canโt believe Yvette Cooper went along with this!โ
โWhy is Yvette Cooperโs husband (Ed Balls) allowed to defend her abysmal handling of the race riots? Iโm not sure this is allowed?โ;
โI donโt think Ed Balls should be interviewing Yvette Cooper on GMB. Theyโre a married couple. Itโs ridiculous.โ
โSurely 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.โ
Ed and Yvette have been married since 1998 and share three children: Joe Balls, Mady Balls, and Ellie Cooper