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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Charlotte Tutton

Martin Lewis on Kwasi Kwarteng's 'sad' Good Morning Britain absence after budget U-turn

Martin Lewis revealed his upset on Good Morning Britain on Monday morning, as chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng declined to appear on the show.

Amid the cost of living crisis and the U-turn over the mini-budget, as announced on Monday morning, Martin wanted to see the chancellor on the show to discuss matters.

But Martin revealed while he appeared "elsewhere" hinting at other interviews, Kwarteng declined an appearance alongside him and co-host Susanna Reid.

Kwarteng wasn't scheduled to appear on the programme, nor did he appear on other programmes including Sky, while he was listed for three interviews including BBC Breakfast.

He revealed all during a chat with Chief Secretary to the Treasury Chris Philip, who did appear on the programme when invited to do so.

Martin Lewis revealed his upset on Good Morning Britain on Monday morning, as chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng declined to appear on the show (ITV)

Martin was speaking to Philip about "irresponsible" messaging online about first time buyers and savings that can be made through the budget cuts.

Suddenly, the guest lost contact and went "offline", unable to hear the guests in the studio.

Martin was initially unaware of this, and asked: "Can I ask you to talk to your department... we've seemed to have lost connection," before saying he would contact him later to have the messages taken offline.

It's then that Susanna questioned if it was more Philip not wanting to talk anymore than a loss of connection.

GMB host Martin Lewis revealed he was 'sad' that Kwasi Kwarteng had 'chosen not to appear' (Getty Images)

She said: "Is he there? Is it like one of those mobile phone conversations you no longer want to have, and you go... I can't hear you, I'm sorry..."

But Martin defended the guest, who later returned to the show, and soon called out Kwarteng for not appearing on the show.

He said: "To be fair he fronted up today, when the chancellor who has been appearing elsewhere has chosen not to come on the programme. It's sad, the day I'm on I would have liked to have seen the chancellor."

Martin revealed while he appeared "elsewhere" hinting at other interviews, Kwarteng declined an appearance alongside him and co-host Susanna Reid (ITV)

It comes following the news that Prime Minister Liz Truss has dropped her plans to axe the 45p top Income Tax rate, just a day after saying she was "absolutely committed" to it on national TV.

The U-turn came after backlash following the announcement of the mini-budget last month.

Kwarteng confirmed the change on Twitter, saying: "We get it, and we have listened," with a statement on the decision to scrap what was initially planned.

Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV and ITV Hub.

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