Ed Balls explains why ‘rattled’ Nigel Farage had a ‘meltdown’ reside on GMB
Good Morning Britain viewers were left feeling ’embarrassed’ after watching Nigel Farage’s ‘car crash interview’ – and presenter Ed Balls has now revealed why the politician was so ‘rattled’.
The right-wing Reform UK leader faced a fiery grilling from presenters Susanna Reid and Ed Balls as he clambered to justify his party’s financial policies.
Things got heated when Ed Balls called Farage out on his party’s personal tax proposal, which he claimed would help people who claim benefits.
Former shadow chancellor Balls slammed the politician’s proposal by arguing it is only rich people who would really benefit. The GMB presenter said: “People on benefits wouldn’t benefit at all from the personal tax allowance because they wouldn’t be paying any tax.”
He added: “Facts are important here. The person who would benefit most from your personal tax proposal is someone who earns £95,000.”
Farage looked notably flustered as he claimed his proposals were correct “on percentage terms”. However, this was again shut down by Mr Balls, who said: “That’s not right. Somebody on the minimum wage would gain less, absolutely and proportionally, than somebody on average earnings or on £95,000. Your tax proposals help people who are richer rather than poorer.”
When Mr Balls accused Farage of playing ‘silly games’, the exasperated politician huffed, and said: “This is so typical.”
Later on in the show, the presenter reflected on the tense exchange alongside journalist Andrew Pierce and The Mirror’s Associate Editor Kevin Maguire, where he said: “I don’t think Nigel Farage is very used to answering questions about his policies”.
Price said: “I wondered at one point if he was going to walk off, because he was uncomfortable.”
Meanwhile, Mr Balls’ analysis of the nightmare interview left Maguire chuckling, as he quipped: “Nigel Farage would get a much bigger tax cut under his plans than his chauffeur. And he doesn’t want that exposed… What he uses and loves is that he can go on a panel like Question Time, you can have your shout and nobody gets interrogated.
“Most of them try and hide their irritation when they can’t answer questions. Because if you do, you expose a fundamental truth are attempting to conceal every time they say: let’s be clear. He didn’t like the fact that he was being questioned.”
After Farage unveiled Reform’s “contract” to voters yesterday, leading economists were quick to debunk the figures, warning the policies would be a disaster for public services – which have already been cut to the bone by the Tories.
