A video of Carol Vorderman criticising ITV shows such as Good Morning Britain for giving airtime to politicians she deems unworthy has sparked a buzz online.
The footage, which is making the rounds on social media today, features the ex-Countdown presenter slamming former Tory chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng and discussing why she thinks viewers are switching off mainstream news in favour of social media for their information.
In the clip, Carol says: “Today I cannot get over how deferential we are to certain politicians who are a disgrace. Kwasi Kwarteng was on Good Morning Britain this morning – what! ? ! ‘Oh I’m just going to chat about the newspapers’ – you crashed the economy mate!”
She adds: “You went off from the House of Commons to a drinks party with billionaire and didn’t give a stuff. And yet he’s there [GMB] as if it’s perfectly normal, so I am not surprised by people watching that and thinking ‘hang on, you’re trying to tell me I should accept him as a valid voice now? Nah sorry. I’m off to social media.”
The snippet of Carol, posted by a Twitter (X) user, seems to have been captured while she was at a live event. It appears that the Celebrity Gogglebox star may have been referring to Kwarteng’s recent stint on Good Morning Britain, reports the Mirror.
The Twitter user added a caption to the video: “Left: Last night @itvpeston and this morning @GMB both platformed Kwasi Kwarteng”.
“Right: Carol Vorderman explains why so many people switch off when news programs platform the likes of Kwasi Kwarteng. I didn’t tune into Peston, and I didn’t tune into GMB – shame on both for normalising the man who crashed the economy, shot up people’s mortgages, wiped billions off pensions, and laughed at the Queen’s funeral.”
Kwarteng served as the Chancellor of the Exchequer from September 6 to 14 October 2022 under doomed PM Liz Truss and was previously the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from 2021 to 2022 under Boris Johnson.
Notably, he became the second shortest-serving Chancellor after Iain Macleod, who passed away a month after taking office, and chose not to run for re-election in the 2024 general election.
Recently, Kwarteng has been featured on television programs like Good Morning Britain and participated in Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart’s podcast.
The selection of politicians invited to appear on ITV shows has drawn considerable criticism over the years, with the appearances of Matt Hancock and Nigel Farage on ‘I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!’ inciting widespread dismay and controversy.
Furthermore, Good Morning Britain was scrutinised earlier this year for its co-host Ed Balls interviewing his wife Yvette Cooper, the Labour Party MP and Home Secretary.
ITV’s chief executive Dame Carolyn McCall described a particularly tough broadcast of the show earlier this month as a “very, very tricky morning”.
Her comments came during her speech at the Royal Television Society (RTS) London Conference, responding to questions from Amol Rajan: “How can anyone take ITV seriously on impartiality?” following a contentious interview.
Dame Carolyn clarified the situation, noting that due to almost a national emergency being declared, they had very little notice before the Home Secretary joined the programme: “It was a very, very tricky morning, there was a national emergency almost being called, and so we got very short notice that the Home Secretary was coming on the show.
“She was doing a whole round, but it was unexpected, and we believe that it was fair and impartial, and actually Ofcom just ruled, but amazingly no-one has picked up on the fact, that Ofcom are not pursuing these complaints, because they believe it’s fair, balanced and impartial.
“So would we do it again? No. Was it impartial, fair and balanced? And did they behave professionally? Yes.”
Moreover, she added her interpretation of the events: “I mean, he asked her a few questions, but I think Kate (Garraway) was leading on that wasn’t she? And so I do think you’ve just got to say, if Ofcom have looked at it and they’re not pursuing this any further because they thought it was fair balanced and impartial, you know, that’s it.”
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