ITV has defended allowing Ed Balls to interview his wife Yvette Cooper on 'Good Morning Britain'.
Yvette Cooper and Ed Balls' interview has been defended by ITV
The broadcaster has come under fire after the former Labour cabinet minister - who is now a regular presenter on the ITV breakfast show - grilled his own wife on Monday's (05.08.24) episode in her role as the home secretary.
A spokesperson for 'GMB' 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.”
During the interview, Ed asked his wife about the riots across the UK and asked what the police, government and social media sites should be doing.
He 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.
“They’ve been using racist language and falsehoods. This is happening on the social media platforms.
"What should be done by the social media companies and the police and the government to stop this happening? It’s been happening for a week.”
She replied: “Well you’re right, Ed. 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.”
Ofcom has recently examined the issue of politicians hosting current affair programme after a debate over Nigel Farage's appearances on GB News during the general election campaign.
The regulator has ruled that while the British public is "instinctively uncomfortable" with the practice, there wasn't a "clear consensus for an outright ban".
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