Good Morning Britain hit with Ofcom complaints over Ed Balls’ ‘political bias’ after ‘disgraceful’ clash with ITV reporter live on show

Good Morning Britain has been hit with a series of complaints from Ofcom, with viewers attacking presenter Ed Balls for ‘political bias’ following a ‘disgraceful’ live confrontation.

The ITV daytime show, which Ed, 59, co-hosts with Susanna Reid, received 55 complaints for the show, which aired on March 23.

The TV watchdog confirmed that viewers had complained, claiming Ed displayed ‘political bias’ throughout the episode.

The complaints were sparked by a conversation between the television presenter and anti-Semitic campaigner Dov Forman, who appeared on the program following an arson attack on a fleet of anti-Semitic ambulances.

Dov, 22, appeared via video link in Golders Green, London, just hours after four charity ambulances were set on fire.

In the weeks since their Hatzola ambulance was attacked while parked in the synagogue parking lot, three men have been charged with arson with intent to damage property and reckless conduct to the point of endangering life.

Dov, 22, appeared via video link in Golders Green, London, just hours after four charity ambulances were set on fire

Dov, who is the great-grandson of Holocaust survivor author Lily Ebert, was seen being grilled by Ed and Susanna, 55, during his appearance on the programme.

Ed was seen asking: ‘When you saw last week shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy singling out London mayor Sadiq Khan for praying with a Muslim group in Trafalgar Square and saying that was wrong and shouldn’t have happened, isn’t that the kind of intolerance and divisiveness that is causing problems in the Jewish community at the moment? Do you condemn this too?’

Dov replied: ‘Look, I think the shadow justice secretary was making a point that many people in this country feel about Islamic extremism.

‘I’m not going to get into an argument about whether your words are right or wrong. We are here to talk about the antisemitic attack that took place in the Jewish community this morning.

‘Of course, we need to be careful with our words, but as I said, there are people, including in the Jewish community, who are concerned about the spread of Islamist extremism that is running rampant in society.’

Accordingly SunThe program later apologized to viewers for the exchange between the pair.

They are said to have said: ‘The purpose of Ed’s question was to ask whether a culture of intolerance was putting Jews at greater risk of harm in the UK. We apologize for any misunderstanding and apologize for any inconvenience caused.’

But the comments sparked outrage on social media, with viewers taking to X (formerly Twitter) to complain about the questioning style.

One wrote: ‘Following the antisemitic attack on the Jewish volunteer ambulance service, you would expect focused questions about the rise and threat of antisemitism in the UK.

Dov, who is the grandson of Holocaust survivor author Lily Ebert, was seen being interrogated by Ed and Susanna, 55, during his appearance on the show.

Instead, he sought to change the debate by asking whether criticism of the mass iftar event in Trafalgar Square had “caused problems” for the Jewish community.

‘This is not balance or insight; It is bad journalism that misses the point and diminishes the seriousness of antisemitism. Dov Forman handled it well because he had a command of the subject.’

Another chimed in: ‘Ed Balls is an absolute disgrace. A third wrote: ‘He has no business hosting a news programme’: ‘Does Ed Balls realize how offensive this was on the morning of the antisemitic hate attack on Jews in Golders Green?’

A fourth added: ‘What a disgraceful thing Ed Balls did’, while a fifth simply described his questioning as ‘disgusting’ when reacting to the interview.

The Daily Mail has contacted ITV for comment.

It came after Ed got into a fight with Huw Edwards’ publicist, accusing him of “encouraging a pedophile and using poor mental health as an excuse for his crimes” in a frustrating Good Morning Britain interview.

In March, Barry Tomes spoke to Ed and Susanna Reid about the new Power: The Downfall Of Huw Edwards, which airs on Channel 5.

Queen Elizabeth II, who presented the BBC’s News At Ten for decades and TV presenter Edwards, 64, who broke some of the biggest stories including Elizabeth’s death, admitted taking indecent images of children in July 2024.

Barry approached Edwards and offered to be his publicist without being paid for his services, revealing that Edwards had told him six months earlier that he ‘wanted to tell his side of the story’.

Barry explained to the presenters: ‘I’m looking for the black box. That’s why I’m here. I want to know why this is happening.

‘He’s not the first famous man to have these problems. There will be more. Unless we can figure out why.’

Ed Balls crucified Huw Edwards’ publicist for ‘encouraging a pedophile and using poor mental health as an excuse for his crimes’ in his Good Morning Britain interview on Wednesday.

He continued: ‘I’m interested in mental health for all kinds of family reasons. I guess a lot of questions are asked but no one seems to ask why is this happening? From where?’

Ed said: ‘Can I ask you about your decision? There are many ways to support understanding for people with mental health problems. But in this case you chose Class A photos of a convicted pedophile, which he admitted and convicted in court.

‘People have the right to defense in law when it comes to a lawyer, that’s what defense lawyers do.

‘Sometimes they do this for free, but you are not a lawyer, you are a journalist. You chose to aid and support a convicted pedophile and I wonder why you chose Huw Edwards?

‘This is your choice, no one made you do this.’

Barry explained: ‘It’s my choice. I said this openly, I approached him, but he never approached me. Quite simply, I want to know why these things happen in general. Why do powerful men do these things?’

Ed then quickly pointed out to Barry: ‘But you’re not investigating, you’re his publicist. You’re telling his story.’

Barry said: ‘I’m looking for the black box. That’s why I’m here. ‘I want to know why this is happening’

‘Aren’t the publishers investigating?’ Barry replied.

‘If you’re his publicist and you have very negative consequences for him, are you going to publish a story he doesn’t want told?’ Ed asked him.

Barry replied: ‘I’ll tell the truth, yes. 100 percent and he knows it.’

Ed then told him: ‘The problem is, he’s a pedophile and you’re his publicist, which means you’re a pedophile’s publicist.

‘You may have an unusual contract where you can say what you want regardless of what he wants, which is an unusual relationship for an advertiser, but Huw Edwards made a statement about the documentary; She says his interaction was shameless, reckless and damaging.

‘So it was worse than that and then I think he continued to use mental illness as an excuse. He says he hopes this will explain how he’s acting.

‘Did this explanation reassure you? Normally a journalist would advise someone to make a statement.’

Barry replied: ‘I sat down with him’ and Ed asked: ‘So you were happy with that statement?’

Barry told the presenter: ‘I was happy because that’s what he wanted to say. ‘Just as I don’t let him tell me ‘we can’t say that, Barry’, I don’t want him to change what he wants to say.’

Ed replied: ‘But you just said your goal was to get to the truth. It’s not just telling the story from his side.

‘Therefore, if you, as his journalist, are publishing a statement that is his words, my assumption is that unless you were happy with those words, you would not have signed those words, you would not have promoted them yourself.’

Barry replied: ‘I think those are his words, the things he wanted to say. I didn’t publish it, I didn’t promote it, I distributed it.

‘If I send this to 1000 people they’ll all think it’s terrible and won’t post it, that’s okay.

‘I didn’t ask anyone to do this. I guess he didn’t end up promoting his book?’

Asked whether a suspended sentence would be enough, Barry said: ‘I don’t know enough. My instinct is that this is the only thing I can work on. The law took its own course. I believe in law. ‘I believe in the courts.’

Barry also revealed that one of the questions he wanted answered when he sat down with Edwards was whether he would give his £200,000 salary back to the BBC.

‘I won’t pay it back. “He had a contract, his contract was terminated and he was paid,” he told Susanna and Ed.

‘Have they taken legal action if they think they should take it back? I am not sure. But personally I wouldn’t do that, no.’

Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV1 and ITVX.