Good heavens. Now it’s ITV under fire after the broadcaster was accused of bias for allowing ex-politician-turned-presenter Ed Balls to interview Yvette Cooper, who also happens to be his, um, wife. Talk about keeping it in the family…
The Home Secretary was across the airwaves this morning doing the media round after horrific riots – which included two attacks on hotels housing asylum seekers – spread across the country at the weekend. But her appearance has been slammed by viewers who were outraged to see her husband conducting part of the interview. Balls first quizzed his wife about what the government, police and social media companies can do to combat ‘falsehoods’ being spread to rile up rioters before discussing two-tier policing claims. Daily Mail columnist Sarah Vine blasted the interview as being ‘beyond parody’, while other social media users accused Balls of conducting a ‘hostile‘ interview with suspended Labour MP Zarah Sultana while giving his wife ‘the softest‘ set of questions. Oh dear…
Cooper’s appearance comes after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s evening statement on Sunday, in which he condemned the ‘far-right thuggery’ taking place in parts of the country and added that those involved ‘will regret taking part in this disorder’. The Labour leader will chair an emergency Cobra meeting today, while Cooper wrote in today’s Times that ‘there will be a reckoning for the individuals who took part in this violence [and] those who whipped them up on social media and in online chat forums’. She added on Good Morning Britain that ‘things that are criminal offline are also criminal online, so we expect the police to be pursuing criminality and illegal material that is online and to make sure that they also face the full force of the law’. Strong stuff – but perhaps next time it would look a little braver to be interviewed by someone other than, er, your own husband…
Watch the clip here:
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