Zarah Sultana, an Independent MP for South Coventry, appeared on the show alongside Daily Mail consultant editor Andrew Pierce and former Labour MP Ben Bradshaw. Hosts Kate Garraway and Ed Balls initiated a discussion surrounding recent violent disorder in the UK which has come in the wake of three girls being killed in a stabbing attack in Southport last Monday (July 29). Far-right protestors have set fire to vehicles and buildings, smashed windows and targeted hotels believed to be housing asylum seekers in the last six days.
. rightly says politicians should call whats happening as racist and Islamophobic. Ed Balls forgets he's meant to be the interviewer and gets annoyed because politicians and the media are being held accountable for where we are now Ms Sultana said it was important to label the disorder as racist and Islamophobic otherwise people would fail "to address what's really going on".
She added: "This shouldn't be a surprise that this has happened. There is decades of work by the right wing press and politicians who have fanned the flames of this hate." Ms Sultana made reference to coverage from GB News and the front pages of the Daily Mail as part of this, which Mr Pierce tried to counter, asking for specific examples.
After that, the MP went on to say: "There are politicians and there are journalists who have played an active role and fanning the flames of hate and division and we are seeing that play out." Here’s just a few examples of Daily Mail headlines that have fanned the flames of hate and normalised Islamophobic and anti-migrant rhetoric She also made the point that there was a "direct correlation" between the language of the protestors against immigration and what has been used by politicians on the topic. Ed Balls made attempts to push back against some of the points Ms Sultana made and criticism was aimed at the panel's response to her discussion by GMB viewers.
Good Morning Britain viewers criticise panel's response to Zahara Sultana There was plenty of criticism aimed at how Andrew Pierce and Ed Balls responded to the points Ms Sultana made on the show. One posted on X (formerly known as Twitter): "Jesus, how patronising are the rest of this panel". Another shared: "i’m disgusted by how they’re dog pilling this girl when she’s defending a community under ATTACK! they’re literally arguing with her about calling these rioters islamaphobic for 10 mins".
Meanwhile, another made a point that it felt it was like "4 against one". One added: "Zarah Sultana speaking the truth on GMB and the presenters didn't want to hear it, which is part of the problem." Not everyone was on board with this though, as one posted: "@zarahsultana has the inability to actually listen to anyone else!".
