Susanna Reid was praised by viewers for holding Rachel Reeves to task on Good Morning Britain as the chancellor dodged a question on VAT more than seven times.
Reeves was live on the morning show from the Labour Party conference, where she also announced she could strip young people of their benefits if they refused a job.
However, it was the budget plans that the GMB presenter was concerned with as the politician, 46, attempted to squirm out of a ‘yes or no’ question.
‘Does that mean that you might increase VAT or you’ll rule out increasing VAT as the manifesto says?’ Reid asked Reeves during the interview.
The chancellor replied that ‘the manifesto stands’ and they were ‘determined not to increase those key taxes’ during the ongoing cost of living crisis.
This response wasn’t enough for Reid, who is known for her intense grilling of politicians, including clashes with Nigel Farage.
‘So you’ve gone further than the prime minister, you’re not going to increase VAT?’ the 54-year-old presenter questioned again.
Caught off-guard, Reeves responded: ‘What I’m doing is explaining why we made those commitments.’
As the chancellor continued her explanations about their campaign promises, Reid interrupted and asked again if she could ‘rule out increasing VAT? Yes or No.’
‘What I’m saying to you is that I made those commitments,’ came the response, which was instantly batted back by the determined presenter.
‘The Manifesto stands and it stands for a reason,’ repeated Reevees, prompting some soft scoffs from Reid and her co-host Ed Balls.
The chancellor defended her plan, saying she was ‘not going to on this programme, two months ahead of the budget, go through it line by line’
To which Reid retorted she had ‘only asked about one thing’, resulting in more assurances that Labour had made a commitment in their manifesto.
After even more back and forther, the former BBC host was clearly getting frustrated and went in on her again, ‘with respect’.
‘I don’t understand, sorry Chancellor, with respect,’ Reid fired back. ‘I don’t understand why it’s such a hard question to simply answer “yes or no” to.
‘Nobody’s asking you for the reason why you put it in your manifesto. You put it in a manifesto because you wanted to win an election.
‘What people want to know is, are you going to raise VAT? It’s a simple yes or no answer.’
To the shock of the presenters, Reeves explained the reason she wasn’t answering directly was that ‘as soon as you answer one question you’ll move on to the next one.’
She then continued to reiterate her manifesto message as Reid gave a quiet ‘oooh’ but didn’t interrupt her again.
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Reid was praised online for her determination, with one person on X saying she was ‘there to keep everybody right’.
‘Susanna Reid was just eating up the chancellor on live TV, go diva,’ wrote thrasheraxe as FlashFox3 branded it ‘another car crash interview’ for the politician.
Charlottepullan added: ‘GMB quote from Rachel Reeves people can trust me…. But Susanna Reid asked you a simple yes or no question and you didn’t answer it… how can you trust someone that can’t answer a question.’
‘Well done Susanna that put Rachel Reeves on the backfoot she looked like a rabbit in head lights ,’ added Mark90Jones.
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The unfortunate interview comes two months ahead of the anticipated budget announcement, as Labour attend their conference.
