Yvette Cooper shut down by GMB’s Susanna Reid in brutal three-word takedown

Things became heated on the ITV morning show as Susanna Reid grilled the Foreign Secretary about the Prime Minister’s support with the US.

Susanna Reid grilled Yvette Cooper on the latest updates from the Middle East (Image: ITV)

Good Morning Britain presenter Susanna Reid locked horns with the Foreign Secretary as she demanded answers after Sir Keir Starmer gave permission for the US to use UK air bases to execute a strike on Iran. On Monday morning (March 2), the 55-year-old broadcaster welcomed the Labour minister onto the show after the Foreign Office announced plans for what would be the biggest evacuation in Britain’s history, should airspace in the Gulf remain closed. As usual, Susanna was forced to interview the politician alone.

Before heading to an ad break, Susanna quipped: I’ll be doing that interview, of course, because Yvette is obviously your wife”, as Ed replied: “I think I’ll sit this one out.” It didn’t take long for things to heat up between the two, as the broadcaster challenged her about Starmer’s support for the US.

She began: “We are following the US into a war in the Middle East that people aren’t convinced of the legality of, and we seem to have no plan as to what happens, when this is going to end, or what replaces the regime the US is trying to get rid of.”

Cooper replied: “We didn’t provide support for the US strikes that took place over the weekend in Iran, but what we are doing now is ensuring that there can be defensive support for our partners in the Gulf who have been attacked over the weekend by the Iranian regime.

“Because these are places that very many British holidaymakers go, and a region where there are 300,000 British citizens estimated to be in countries that are now being targeted by the Iranian regime. Some of those have asked us for defensive support, and that is why we are providing them with some direct support around anti-drone capabilities.

“But we are also recognising some particular ballistic missile launches that are pointed at the Gulf from Iran, and we are allowing the US to use our bases to go after those missiles that are currently, effectively, pointed at the Gulf.” It was at this point that the broadcaster fumed: “You’ve said that, you’ve said that. So we don’t know what the plan is long-term.”

Susanna Reid certainly didn’t hold back as she grilled the Foreign Secretary on the show (Image: ITV)

After the heated debate ended, Ed returned to the set and added: “It was nice to see Yvette, I haven’t seen her all weekend”, as his co-host chuckled: “We don’t allow you to speak to her”. It comes after the show faced major backlash in 2024 when Ed interviewed his wife on the programme over the UK government’s response to riots.

As a result, it sparked over 8,000 Ofcom complaints from viewers who were unimpressed with the husband-and-wife interview. However, Ofcom decided not to investigate the complaints further, as a spokesperson told Sky News it was clearly stated to viewers of their relationship.

They told the publication: “We carefully considered complaints from viewers who objected to Ed Balls interviewing his wife, Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary. Taking into account that their relationship was made clear twice, that a range of views about Labour’s handling of the riots were included in the programme as a whole, and given that he vast majority of the interview was conducted by co-presenter, Kate Garraway, we will not be pursuing further.”