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Ed Balls sat out an interview with his wife Yvette Cooper on Good Morning Britain today after sparking a ‘bias’ row.
The former Labour Cabinet minister left co-presenter Susanna Reid to ask the questions during the Home Secretary’s appearance this morning.
‘As you know she’s my wife, so I’ll sit this one out,’ Mr Balls said.
The awkward moment came after ITV conceded that he would not be allowed to interrogate his spouse again following an outcry in August.
The previous interview was branded ’embarrassing to the extreme’ by viewers concerned about the potential conflict of interest – although bosses insisted that both behaved ‘professionally’ and it was not against rules.
Thousands of people made official complaints to the regulator about the episode of the breakfast show which included Ms Cooper being questioned over the Labour government’s handling of riots.
Yvette Cooper and Ed Balls, pictured outside their London home in November 2016, married in 1998 and have three children together
Mr Balls served as Education Secretary and shadow chancellor before losing his Commons seat in 2015, and pursuing a career on TV.
He asked his wife during the exchange on August 5 whether officers had policed protests by far-right activists and pro-Palestine demonstrators differently.
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 that 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.
The following month the boss of ITV vowed the scenes would not be repeated, despite Ofcom not pursuing an investigation.
Chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall said: ‘Would we do it again? No. Was it impartial, fair and balanced? And did they behave professionally? Yes.’
