saw host skewer deputy prime minister over decision to halt US military aid to after his fiery clash with
Rayner appeared via video link on the morning show, where she was asked whether she was “blindsided” by the overnight news. Rayner, however, refused to comment on “ongoing dialogues” prime minister is having with the US president.
Instead, she continuously repeated the phrase “honest broker” in regards to the PM, insisting the UK is focused on achieving peace for in its conflict with . She said: “We won’t be blindsided or bounced from the focus of getting peace for with those security guarantees.
“The prime minister also set out where we’ve stepped up with regards to our military aid – missiles, the seizing of Russian assets and using that money towards support for , the £3billion a year we continue to give for support. The prime minister wants to be an honest broker working with the US and European allies to bring about that peace.”
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Angela Rayner was skewered by Susanna Reid (Image: ITV)
But both Ed Balls and Susanna were keen to get Rayner’s thoughts on US vice president JD Vance’s meeting with German far-right politicians, with Ed interrupting: “But , you can’t turn a blind eye to JD Vance meeting the far-right AFD party in Germany against the advice of mainstream German politicians, saying that free speech in Britain is under threat, picking a fight with Zelensky in a meeting last Friday…
“Can you imagine you and having a meeting in Downing Street with, I don’t know, some local council leader who came in and said he didn’t want to build the homes you want, and you as deputy prime minister speaking to them on camera in the way JD Vance spoke to Zelensky. Can you imagine that for a moment?”
Rayner simply said: “Well, I reference what our prime minister said to JD Vance around free speech – we’re very proud of free speech in the UK. We can have robust discussions and I think President Trump has also acknowledged that him and Keir come from very different sides of the political spectrum, but we have a lot in common-“
Susanna Reid and Ed Balls had questions for Rayner (Image: ITV)
Cutting her off, Ed asked: “So have you had a robust discussion with JD Vance about meeting the AFD?” – but she said: “Again, I’m not going to go into dialogue that I have with JD Vance.”
It was Susanna’s turn to grill Rayner next, as she said: “I want to ask you a question that is being put repeatedly by viewers this morning, and it’s summed up by Lisa on Facebook. ‘Good’, she said in response to what President Trump has done. ‘Now the UK needs to do the same and put money where it’s really needed. Pensioners, disabled, kids, NHS.’
“People watching will see energy bills go up, food inflation up, winter fuel allowance cut. They might also be asking – we’re about to put billions extra into this war, and is it time to consider whether President Trump has a point?”
Rayner responded: “Well first of all it’s not either or. The prime minister outlined he made a very difficult decision where the money was going to come from for our defence, of the UK, and that’s why we increased our defence spending and made the difficult decision to take money from the overseas aid.
“We’ve invested huge sums of money into provision for children with special educational needs. Councils have had a real cash terms increase of around 7% from this government recognising the austerity that the previous government gave them. Pensioners are better off than they were under the . We will put money and investment into our NHS to reduce those waiting lists.”