Ed Balls and MP Zarah Sultana locked horns in a fiery Good Morning Britain segment on the far-right riots, which left some viewers feeling uncomfortable. The minister for Coventry South – who was one of the Labour MPs recently suspended by Keir Starmer for voting to scrap the two-child benefit cap – appeared on ITV morning show on Monday (5 August) for a debate with Daily Mail ’s Andrew Pierce about the extent to which Islamophobia is fuelling the abhorrent riots taking place in several cities across the UK. As Sultana attempted to explain the importance of calling the riots “Islamophobic” and “racist”, Balls repeatedly interrupted her while also accusing her of failing to answer his questions.
In awkward scenes, Kate Garraway stepped in to seemingly defend Balls, telling a frustrated Sultana: “We have to ask you questions as well”, to which she replied: “Absolutely.” Here, as Garraway proceeded to ask Sultana a question, Balls interjected: “And if you want to, you can answer them – it’s your call.” Sultana replied: “I’m going to wait for Kate to finish her question if that’s alright,” following which a clearly rattled Balls, staring at Sultana, hit back: “If you want to answer the questions, you can but you don’t have to.
” Sultana remained silent as Garraway asked: “Why is it important for you to use that specific word ‘Islamophobic’? It’s been called racist, it’s been called thuggery.” Here, Balls interrupted again, st.