Good Morning Britain interview between Ed Balls and his wife Yvette Cooper was fair and impartial... but well never do it again, says ITV boss
An ITV boss has vowed never to repeat letting Home Secretary Yvette Cooper be interviewed on Good Morning Britain by her own husband Ed Balls.
An ITV boss has vowed never to repeat letting Home Secretary Yvette Cooper be interviewed on Good Morning Britain by her own husband Ed Balls.
The broadcasters chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall made the promise as media watchdog Ofcom announced it would not pursue an investigation.
Thousands of people made official complaints to the regulator about the episode of the breakfast show on August 5 which included Ms Cooper being questioned over the Labour governments handling of last months UK-wide riots.
Her husband Mr Balls - a former Labour MP and Education Secretary- was presenting the programme alongside Kate Garraway on the morning his wife was interviewed.
Dame Carolyn today said: Would we do it again? No. Was it impartial, fair and balanced? And did they behave professionally? Yes.
Thousands of people complained to media watchdog Ofcom after Ed Balls and Kate Garraway interviewed Home Secretary Yvette Cooper (right) on Good Morning Britain on August 5
Yvette Cooper and Ed Balls, pictured outside their London home in November 2016, married in 1998 and have three children together
ITV chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall has defended the broadcast amid complaints about a potential confict of interest but admitted the channel would not do the same again
Mr Balls is now a regular GMB host after losing his seat in 2015 and pursuing a media career - including being a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing the following year.
He and Ms Balls, who became Home Secretary after Labour won the general election on July 4, have been married since 1998.
Many critics raised concerns about an apparent conflict of interest when the August 5 was broadcast live - with some suggesting Mr Balls should have stepped aside.
Ofcom today said it carefully considered that issue, but would not pursue action.
A spokeperson said: Taking into account that their relationship was made clear twice, that a range of views about Labours handling of the riots were included in the programme as a whole, and given the vast majority of the interview was conducted by co-presenter, Kate Garraway, we will not be pursuing further.
But Ofcom added it had given ITV a warning to take particular care over the compliance of such interviews in future to ensure due impartiality.
Now Dame Carolyn has responded, defending her organisations handling despite making that vow not to allow such an interview to recur.
The ITV boss was replying to a question from presenter Amol Rajan at the Royal Television Society London Conference, when he asked about the incident: How can anyone take ITV seriously on impartiality?
Mr Balls is now a regular GMB host after losing his seat in 2015 and pursuing a media career - including being a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing the following year
His wife Yvette Cooper has been Home Secretary since Labour won the July 4 general election
Ed Balls and Yvette Cooper have long been seen as one of the Labour Partys power couples
Dame Carolyn said: It was a very, very tricky morning - there was a national emergency almost being called and so we got very short notice that the Home Secretary was coming on the show.
She was doing a whole round, but it was unexpected, and we believe that it was fair and impartial.
And actually Ofcom just ruled, but amazingly no one has picked up on the fact, that Ofcom are not pursuing these complaints because they believe its fair, balanced and impartial.
So would we do it again? No. Was it impartial, fair and balanced? And did they behave professionally? Yes.
I mean, he asked her a few questions, but I think Kate was leading on that, wasnt she?
And so I do think youve just got to say, if Ofcom have looked at it and theyre not pursuing this any further because they thought it was fair, balanced and impartial, you know, thats it.
The episode had been branded embarrassing to the extreme by viewers concerned about the potential conflict of interest.
Mr Balls asked his wife during the programme whether officers had policed protests by far-right activists and pro-Palestine demonstrators differently.
ITV chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall, pictured here addressing a Commons select committee in June last year, today insisted the August 5 GMB episode was fair and impartial
Yvette Cooper was questioned on the programme about the governments response to the UK-wide riots which broke out in July and August following the Southport stabbings
Ed Balls, who lost his Commons seat at the 2015 general election, has become one of the rotating hosts of ITVs Good Morning Britain - pictured here with co-presenter Susanna Reid
Ms Cooper, who has three children with him, responded by saying police had to operate without fear or favour, whatever the kinds of crimes it is that they face.
He also asked her whether there had been a two-tier approach to policing, and if police have been softer and more cautious when policing the Gaza demonstrations compared with a tougher approach over the previous week.
Before the interview, Mr Balls told viewers he had genuine questions for Ms Cooper, as he has rarely seen her at all in the last week because of the recent disorder.
Complaints were also made to Ofcom about an exchange on the same show with Coventry South MP Zarah Sultana.
She had accused host Mr Balls of sneering contempt after a discussion about whether the riots should be deemed Islamophobic became heated.
Ms Sultana said she was going to wait for the presenters to finish their question before he interrupted to say: If you want to answer the questions, you can, but you dont have to.
Mr Balls continued to interrupt her as she replied to an earlier question by his co-presenter about why the MP wanted politicians to call out Islamophobia.
Ms Sultana then asked him if she can finish, and criticised an article that he wrote about immigration.
The same August 5 programme in which Ed Balls and Kate Garraway interviewed Yvette Cooper also featured fractious exchanges with Coventry South MP Zarah Sultana
Viewers also complained to Ofcom about the interview with Zarah Sultana (pictured)
The Coventry South MP later posted on X, formerly Twitter, about how she felt she was treated
Mr Balls, a Labour MP from 2005 to 2015, defended his 2010 Guardian opinion column headlined: We were wrong to allow so many eastern Europeans into Britain.
Later, Ms Sultana posted on X: The sneering contempt of "journalists" will never stop me from calling out racism and Islamophobic hate.
Ofcom said today: We will not be pursuing complaints about an interview with Zarah Sultana MP on this programme.
In our view, Ms Sultana was given ample opportunity to express her views and respond to the questions put to her, while we consider the robust line of questioning would be consistent with regular viewers expectations of interviews with political figures on this programme.
