GMB Host Ed Balls Shuts Down Quentin Letts For ‘Mr Cooper’ Jibe About Wife’s Shadow Cabinet Role

Good Morning Britain host Ed Balls confronted journalist Quentin Letts for “patronising” him after the guest referred to him multiple times as “Mr. Cooper” – inferring that the host’s legitimate line of questioning about the Tory government was informed by his wife’s role as an opposition politician.

Balls, who served in multiple New Labour-era administrations himself, is married to current Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, and took Letts to task on the “taunt” in an awkward calling out that saw Letts, a regular contributor to the right-leaning Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph newspapers, hang his head.

The confrontation started when Balls asked questions about the Tory government’s Rwanda Bill, stalled after several defeats in the House of Lords. The host asked the panel whether the move was a political “gamble” when Letts contributed.

Letts: “Well, Mr. Cooper, I would say that the closer you get to the election, the less there will be an electoral bounce.”

Balls: “Why do you keep saying that?”

Letts: “Because I just think it’s…”

Balls: “Isn’t that really patronising?”

Letts: “I don’t want to make a big thing of it.”

Balls: “You are making a big thing of it. It’s really patronising to me and to you. Of course it is. The idea that I can’t ask you questions on this television programme because I’m married to somebody who has a role in…”

Letts: “The shadow Home Secretary!”

Balls: “Yes. In my experience, people who make those kind of taunts are people who find it hard to answer the questions. Why don’t you answer the question and stop playing silly politics?”

Letts: “I was trying to answer the question.”

Balls: “No, you weren’t.”

Letts: “I was. I was trying to answer the question.”

Balls: “You were not making slurs. You were using the kind of House of Commons poor political devices which people do if they can’t answer the question. I have a question.”

Letts: “Edward, I am not a politician. I don’t support any…”

Balls: “Well, you sound like a politician to me.”

Letts: “I don’t support any political party. I was trying to say to you…”

Balls: “You sound like a politician to me… the establishment, the wife of Mr Cooper. These are the kind of political games people play. You report on them when you write sketches. It feels like you’ve become infected by them.”

Letts, head down, tried to move away from the confrontation and answer the question.

Letts: “I was trying to say to you, I think the Tories will not get a benefit from it.”

Balls: “Okay, that’s a good answer.”

Letts: “But you wouldn’t let me.”

Balls: “ No I didn’t. Look, I interrupted you when you called me Mr. Cooper and made a slur on my integrity rather than answering the questions. Answer the questions and don’t slander me.”

Letts: “I think it’s a legitimate slur… So, we talk about Rishi Sunak, and we often, we journos, will have a go at him because of his wife.”

Co-host Kate Garraway tried to interrupt to redirect the conversation: “Well, let’s talk about Rishi Sunak because his wife?

Balls, still eyeing Letts, reissued his questions about the Tory government as legitimate and faie: “The questions for Rishi Sunak are: Is inflation coming down? Is he managing the borders well? Are waiting times coming down? Is he leaving the country well? If you want to have a go at it, why do you do that?”

In a final push back at the journalist’s jibe, Balls said: “But that just seems to be small-minded and petty politics. Get on the big issues, Quentin.”