The Shadow Home Secretary was put on the spot by Susanna Reid and Ed Balls on Monday morning

Several Good Morning Britain viewers were left unimpressed with Monday’s interview with Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp as the Conservative MP was grilled about the ongoing debate surrounding migrant hotels.

With the hotels still making the news following scenes of police allegedly pepper-spraying protestors over the weekend in London, combined with continued unrest in Epping, Susanna Reid and Ed Balls were keen to hear from Mr Philp about what the Tories felt should be done.

However, the line of questioning from Ms Reid, as well as the fact that Mr Balls is married to the current Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, sparked a rather dismayed response from viewers at home.

“It’s pretty extraordinary to focus on nine months when you were in government for 14 years and we had record levels of immigration on your watch,” Ms Reid quizzed during the discussion with Mr Philp.

ITV GMB: Ed Balls and Susanna Reid quizzed Chris Philp on Monday

| ITV

She went on: “In the year that you told councils that they no longer had to consult on hotel accommodation, the number of hotels increased.

“If we look at the end of March 2020, which is when you told councils they no longer needed to consult, there were around 1,200 people accommodated in hotels. That number increased to around 4,400 by that June, 8,000 towards the end of August, and approximately 9,500 in October.

“So literally, in one year, you had this massive rise in asylum seekers in hotels. And now you’re blaming the government for not dealing with it.”

Mr Philp defended the Conservatives’ time in government: “Well, of course, the period you’re quoting, starting in March 2020, is, of course, during Covid, when international travel and the ability to return people was obviously hugely impaired by the Covid pandemic.