Ed Balls ITV GMB 'bias' row explodes as furious viewers tear apart 'disgraceful' Mel Stride clash: 'He has got to GO!'

But when Mr Stride provided his answers, he often found himself being spoken over by the pair, prompting complaints of "bias" from irked fans, as well as calls for Mr Balls, in particular, to be removed from his post.

In one rather heated exchange with Ms Singh, the ITV presenter said: "This story about Rachel Reeves not obtaining the correct licence when renting out her family home.

"It is actually a criminal offence to do that, and yet the Prime Minister says that he’s taken advice from his independent advisor on ministerial standards and a further investigation is not necessary because she’s made an apology. That is the end of that, isn’t it?"

Mr Stride disagreed: "No, I don’t think so. I don’t think you can just have a sudden exchange of letters between Rachel Reeves and the Prime Minister and just sweep this one away.

"I think there needs to be a proper investigation into exactly what has happened. One thing I’ve been made aware of this morning is that, for example, back in early 2023, actually before the property was rented out, Rachel Reeves had been campaigning locally in Leeds to have the selective licences introduced there.

"So it must have been something that she was very familiar with as a concept and the implications of that under the Housing Act, and as you say, being a breach of that, actually being a criminal offence. So I do think this needs to be looked at more closely."

Ms Singh fired back: "But she put it in the hands of the letting agent, as many of our viewers will understand.

"You put it in the hands of the letting agent, and you trust them, and then they give you the advice. She was not told to get a licence. She’s now getting one."

Mr Stride once again disputed Ms Singh's suggestion: "Well, you don’t know that those are the facts, and that’s why we need to have a proper look at this, a proper investigation. Look, the Prime Minister stood on the steps of Downing Street when he was elected.

"One of the first things he said was that he wanted to reintroduce integrity and decency to government. And if that is the case and he stands by that position, then why should we not have a closer look at exactly what has happened here rather than a quick exchange of letters in the hope that it will all just go away?"

Later in the discussion, Mr Balls chipped in to focus on Ms Reeves's performance in her role as Chancellor, appearing to defend the Labour politician for her current stance on the public's finances ahead of next month's Budget.

"Rachel Reeves has been saying in the last couple of weeks that Brexit has hit our economy badly and the global economy has been weaker than she expected, and all of that means that while a year ago she thought she had done her tax raising for the Parliament, she’s now going to have to come back up and, it seems, raise taxes again in this budget," Mr Balls pointed out.

He then claimed: "Isn’t that the right, sensible, rational way for a Chancellor to behave? If the world changes, if the facts change, then you change your policy."

Mr Stride once again dismissed the GMB host's suggestion: "I think Rachel Reeves is basically the market for blaming absolutely anybody other than herself for the terrible state that the economy is in. Now, Brexit was some considerable time ago.

"I think she made those remarks with regard to what appears to be probably quite a substantial downgrade on productivity forecast growth by the OBR, but of course, those forecasts are projecting into the future and are substantially based on what the government is doing at the moment.

"And I don’t think she can get away from the fact that she came into the election saying she wouldn’t put up our taxes left, right, and centre. She promptly did, broke that promise — most of it landing on the shoulders of businesses, which has destroyed growth.

"She talked down the economy, she has gone out and borrowed vast amounts of money, spent a lot of money, which has kept inflation higher than it would otherwise have been. We’ve got about the highest inflation in the G7 this year, and the IMF says we will do next year.

"And that’s meant higher interest rates whilst mounding up all this national debt — the servicing costs upon which are about a hundred billion a year, or twice what we spend on defence. And we now find ourselves going into this budget all speculating about what taxes she’s going to be putting up, a very uncertain environment in which businesses are really suffering.

'Rachel Reeves is in the market for blaming anybody other than herself for the terrible state the economy is in,' says @MelJStride.

This comes as the chancellor has confirmed both tax rises and spending cuts are options in November's Budget. pic.twitter.com/Lmj4CukBc5

— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) October 30, 2025

"So I’m afraid all of those things are of her making. Always frustrating when politicians blame things outside of their control for things that they have to do."

Mr Balls smirked as he cut back in: "Of course, you were a cabinet minister in the last Parliament with Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister. We had the biggest rise in taxation in any Parliament since the Second World War in the last Parliament.

"Do you remember, Mr Stride, what you said in your 2019 election manifesto in your constituency about taxes? Did you say they were going to go up or did you say you wanted them to come down?"

Mr Stride answered: "So look, I think you make a fair point, Ed, but I think there is a difference between externalities that hit the economy — like, for example, something that’s happened in the past such as our stepping out of the European Union, which is what Rachel Reeves is relying upon with her argument — and things that happened when we were in office which were huge, almost once-in-a-century events.

"First was Covid, which led to a contraction of the UK economy by 10 percent overnight. And the second was the Russia–Ukraine war, which brought inflation to our shores and many other countries as well. I think they are of a different order of magnitude -"

Mr Balls interrupted: "So just to be clear what you're saying, in 2019, Mel Stride said, 'I'm going to stop your taxes'. They then went up by the biggest amount in any parliament since the Second World War... You've given us your excuses, but yours are good excuses, and Rachel Reeves's are bad excuses?"

Mr Stride once again reiterated that he didn't feel his and Ms Reeves's stances could be "equatable", which led to Ms Singh reading aloud a previous quote of the Shadow Chancellor's from 2023 in which he conceded Brexit was always going to have an impact on the nation's finances.

"That was only 2023, that you seem to be agreeing with the Governor of the Bank of England, the OBR, Rachel Reeves, that Brexit has had a very negative impact on growth in this country and continues to do so, and that is the context in which the current Chancellor has to make her decisions," Mr Singh pressed.

Mr Stride once again hit back: "Look, you can look at the impact that Brexit may or may not have had on growth but as I say, that is a historical event. The OBR has already made an assessment of the impact of that... Rachel Reeves cannot simply keep pivoting back to the distant past and say well that was the problem. She has to look to the present and what she's done as Chancellor since the election and the plans she has for the future, and for those measures, it doesn't stack up."

The constant disagreements and seeming support for the current Chancellor from the ITV hosts quickly angered viewers at home, many of whom took to X to slam the manner of the debate.

One furious viewer reached out to the current Conservative leader: "@KemiBadenoch Will you be complaining about the treatment of Mel Stride on @GMB by Ed Balls and Ranvir Singh? It was appalling."

"I'm no fan of Mel Stride but the way Ed Balls is conducting this interview it's as tho Mel stride is the actual chancellor, is GMB the government mouthpiece FFS #GMB," a second fumed.

"Ed and Ranvir look angry and upset, but Mel looks so calm and controlled. They need to do better at hiding their emotions. Typical lefties. #gmb," a third complained while a fourth raged: "@GMB when are you admitting Ed Balls is far too biased to be a presenter????"

Elsewhere, a fifth hit out: "#GMB Ed has got to go. It is totally inappropriate for him to interview politicians when his wife holds such an important role in the current government. Talking over Mel who made the distinction of COVID & the Russian invasion, was disgraceful. The time is coming for me to never watch GMB again!"

"Everyone turn off Labour broadcasting TV. Biased s***e!!" a sixth blasted.

However, Mr Balls and Ms Singh did receive some backing, with some even suggesting they were too favourable to Mr Stride during their discussion.

One X user defended the government by typing: "The assertion by your interviewer that matters have been 'brushed under the carpet' shows your agenda.

"Day after day, you attack the Labour Party under a cloak that you are balanced because you employ Ed Balls. If only you gave the same scrutiny to those on the Right."

A second also slammed the show: "GMBbees ohh let's slag off the government again!! Yet glossed over 14 years of Tory lies, corruption, and dodgy dealings with cronies!"

And Mr Balls came under praise from others, including one who wrote: "Well done Ed for balancing things out and for not taking advantage of just condemning the other side just for political gain." (sic)