Good Morning Britain episode leads to 8,200 complaints to Ofcom

Both interviews related to the wave of violent unrest that has broken out in parts of the UK over the past week.

Following the interview with Cooper, Deadline reporter Jake Kanter said, external it was “baffling it was allowed to happen”, while other viewers described the dynamic of the interview as “absurd” and “untenable”.

Balls, a former Labour minister, is now a regular GMB presenter; Cooper, his wife, was appointed home secretary following the general election last month. They have been married since 1998.

In an earlier debate on the programme on Monday, there was a testy interview with Balls, Garraway and Sultana, MP for Coventry South.

In the item, Sultana said the government should describe the riots as Islamophobic as well as racist, and challenged Balls on an article he had previously written about immigration.

Writing afterwards on X, external, she said: “The sneering contempt of ‘journalists’ will never stop me from calling out racism and Islamophobic hate.”

After the number of complaints to Ofcom was published on Wednesday, she posted: “I appreciate the solidarity so much.”

Following Monday’s episode, an ITV 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.

“[These] included James Cleverly, Shadow Home Secretary and Yvette Cooper, Home Secretary.

“We are satisfied that these interviews were balanced, fair and duly impartial.”