ITV GMB fury erupts as Balls branded 'pathetic' for 'embarrassing' Farage dig in Zia Yusuf clash: 'So biased it's unreal!'

As part of his election campaign last year, Mr Farage pledged to slash taxes, targeting corporation tax, stamp duty, and income tax in his plans.

But ahead of Chancellor Rachel Reeves's Budget later this month, Mr Farage has conceded that should Reform UK get into power, he'd have to U-turn on making "substantial tax cuts".

The Reform UK leader said that major changes to taxes were not currently "realistic" because of the "dire state" of the public finances, but insisted his party would still make some "relatively modest" changes, such as raising tax thresholds and immediately scrapping inheritance tax for family farms and family-run businesses, should they get into power.

Inevitably, Mr Farage's stance has hit headlines, and Ms Reid was first up to put the questions to Mr Yusuf on Tuesday morning about the switch.

"Can the electorate be forgiven for thinking you all make promises you never stick to? There’s just no point believing politicians and their promises on tax anymore," Ms Reid began.

Mr Yusuf admitted: "I think they could be forgiven for thinking that if they were looking at what Labour are doing, because they actually won the election. Sadly, we have a drunken sailor in the form of Rachel Reeves at the tiller of this great country’s economy."

He continued: "She’s raising taxes at a pace, according to Capital Economics, unseen in 55 years, while increasing borrowing £40 billion more than she committed to ahead of the election. Sadly, Reform did not win the general election. Nigel is not yet our Prime Minister.

"And what we’re saying is, look, at Reform, of course our intention is in the medium term to cut taxes, but the state of the economy is deteriorating so rapidly. The first thing we must do is restore direct public finances, restore confidence in Britain."

Ms Reid cut back in: "That sounds like the Labour Party before the general election... 'We need to fix the foundations'. Now, we can talk about what Rachel Reeves is going to do; none of us know until 8:10am, or indeed until the Budget.

"But you did promise that you would raise the threshold for paying tax to £20,000. And I imagine a huge number of people would have voted for you on that basis.

"You’ve now said that younger people on the minimum wage are being paid too much—that you would also cut that. I mean, if you’re a younger voter looking at Reform, you might think, 'Well, these things I wanted from a Reform government—I don’t want that anymore.'"

Mr Yusuf stood firm: "Well, the first thing to say is, as we saw with the Liz Truss budget, it’s all very easy to promise tax cuts and then find that global markets are unwilling to support the British economy. And that’s when people watching this programme with mortgages—they will remember their mortgage costs blew up.

"We are taking the business of potential governance seriously. And the Tories, over 14 years, did wreck the public finances. Sadly, they took our national debt to almost £3 trillion. Labour are making things even worse.

"Let’s talk about young people. It is a catastrophe at the moment that we have a larger proportion of our young adults out of work or not seeking work than we have had in many decades.

"A larger proportion—almost a third—of our young adults are still living at home with their parents. They can’t even afford to move out and rent a place. Forget about buying a home—that’s become a total pipe dream.

"And if we talk about the minimum wage, what we’re about is saying this: there’s a correct level to set that so that you find the right balance between making it affordable, particularly for small and medium-sized businesses, to hire young people.

"We’re speaking to so many hospitality businesses that are, as we speak, going out of business. And that is why also the number one category of people going onto benefits over the last five years, in terms of growth in new cases, is under 25. They have been tossed onto the scrap heap.

"So we are not going to betray our young people, particularly British nationals. The last thing I’ll say is: all the job growth in the under-25 category over the last five years—all of it—is foreign nationals. Nigel Farage is the person who is on young people's side."

At this point in the discussion, Mr Balls interjected: "The problem is, Zia Yusuf, these are matters of judgment, aren’t they? Do we trust the judgment of people who might be our Prime Minister?

"You just criticised the Liz Truss budget, which was tax cuts paid for by borrowing. Your leader, Nigel Farage, at the time, in September 1992, described that as the best Conservative Budget since 1986 — the best Conservative Budget for more than 15 years.

"In 2022, your leader thought the Truss Budget was the right thing, and now you are criticising it. Doesn’t that suggest Nigel Farage is the one who’s got the judgment problem?"

"I think it was a bit more recently than 1992, but I understand your question," Mr Yusuf replied, pointing out the error in Mr Balls's line of questioning. "Would you rather have a Prime Minister who learned nothing from history, that didn’t see what actually happened in global markets?"

Mr Balls interrupted: "Nigel Farage said it was the best Budget in 2022, and he’s now learned from history. Last year, he said tax cuts were affordable, and he’s now learned from history. So he’s doing quite a lot of learning. What we want is somebody who’s got judgment, and on both of those, he got it wrong."

Mr Yusuf fired back: "Judgement is a function of taking into account things you have seen in your life. And if we look at Liz Truss's Budget, there are things at a headline level - Look, Nigel Farage is someone who does want to cut taxes for people.

"But we can see what happens when that is done, when the public finances are in the state that they are in. People's mortgages blew up, people's rents went through the roof... unemployment is at four-year highs, so our message to voters is this: we know the Tories and Labour cannot be trusted to run the economy.

"Reform will restore the public finances and then cut your taxes."

As Ms Reid attempted to bring the conversation to a close, Mr Balls couldn't resist a parting shot. "Mr Yusuf, my memory of 2022, the markets thought the Truss Budget was crazy, the Labour Party thought the same, most economists thought so, the only person who thought it was a good idea at the time was Nigel Farage and he's the one you say is learning from history."

Mr Yusuf promptly batted away Mr Balls's claim: "No, I think that's a revisionist version of history. We make no apologies for the fact that we are a party that looks at what actually happens, understands markets, and is unwilling to say to people that we're going to cut lots of taxes at a time when the state of the public finances is in peril.

"And we will not allow this country's economy to be dragged off a cliff edge, and that is what's currently happening by this government."

Following the clash, particularly with Mr Yusuf rebutting a number of Mr Balls's claims and probes, social media erupted with viewers keen to make their thoughts known.

And it's safe to say many were unhappy with Mr Balls's conduct, with some accusing him of "bias" in his challenging of the Reform UK party member.

"Ed Balls your anti reform views were on full show there, embarrassing," one X user fumed, while a second echoed: "@Edballs @gmb @ZiaYusufUK Zia again on point……is that the best you can come up with Ed Balls scrolling your phone for your Liz Truss quote?"

Elsewhere, a third criticised: "@edballs & @susannareid100 ripping into @ZiaYusufUK on #GMB to deflect from any catastrophe that @RachelReevesMP will have in store."

And a fourth asked: "Why does it become a thing about trying to discredit Farage? Balls has a permanent smirk on his face like a schoolkid calling someone names in the playground... supposed to be an adult... messed up our schools, cost businesses billions, married to a cabinet member.. not impartial."

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has ditched his party's election promise last year to deliver £90 billion in tax-cuts.@susannareid100 challenges Reform's head of policy, Zia Yusuf on the Party's decision to backtrack on the pledge to cut taxes. pic.twitter.com/kaG9bXXUxc

— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) November 4, 2025

"This is leadership: answer every question without dodging it. Presenters absolutely hated it," a fifth said as they praised Mr Yusuf, while a sixth weighed in: "@Gmb Please stop Ed Balls chuntering on when it comes to political guests. He is so biased it’s unreal."

However, Mr Balls and Ms Reid did receive some support from others who argued they pressed Mr Yusuf in a suitable manner, while some viewers were left angry to see airtime given to a Reform UK representative in the first place.

"@ZiaYusufUK @reformuk well done Su and Ed for ignoring Yusuf swing to blaming immigrants," one X user argued. "Don’t get Yusuf. Reduce minimum wage and this helps young adults pay their rent? Note, he committed to not one concrete policy."

And a second echoed: "And now Zia is on #GoodMorningBritain! Turned off. This Reform Media Bias is out of control. #GMB." (sic)