Good Morning Britain presenter Susanna Reid called out at Baroness Jacqui Smith during a heated interview about the standards of childcare.
Baroness Jacqui Smith was left stuttering as she was grilled by Susanna Reid on Good Morning Britain. The Education Minister appeared on Monday’s instalment of the ITV programme after it was announced that 200 school-based nurseries will open in England in September as part of the government’s plan to improve access to childcare for working parents. However, a recent poll revealed that 7 in 10 nurseries don’t have enough staff to operate at maximum capacity.
Ahead of Baroness Smith’s appearance on the programme, Susanna and Ed Balls spoke to the parents of Genevieve Meehan, a nine-month old baby who died from asphyxiation when she was tightly swaddled, strapped to a beanbag, and left unattended a nursery in Stockport in 2022. Mentioning the tragic death of Genevieve, Susanna explained there were two members of staff looking after 11 babies, while there had been 16 babies at the nursery on the previous day.
Susanna Reid grilled Jacqui Smith on the standards of childcare (Image: ITV)
Susanna said: “That clearly is not in accordance with the national guidelines. As Genevieve’s parents were saying, babies cannot pay the price for understaffed childcare provision. We all know the benefits of childcare, but there is no benefit if children are at risk.”
Baroness Smith responded: “Absolutely not, which is why we are putting considerable additional investment into childcare.”
But as the politician attempted to make her next point, she began to stutter.
“It’s why… It’s why we…,” she said. Baroness Smith eventually gathered her thoughts and started to respond, however, Susanna was forced to interrupt as she noticed the politician was not answering the question she asked.
The presenter interjected: “Sorry to interrupt. But my question was was it legally enforceable?” The conversation turned heated as the minister attempted to defend herself.
She hit back: “I didn’t focus on… Susanna. Quite, Susanna. Which is why I said it’s also important that Ofsted inspects it, including unannounced if necessary. It’s also important that there is more staff and we are seeing more staff getting into early years in childcare.
“It’s also important that people feel able to report where they think that’s going wrong, including parents. All of those things are going to be important as we develop more childcare so that more working parents have got the chance to work and more children have got the chance to have the best start.”