Susanna Reid defends Fiona Bruce over 'outrageous' pile-on as Ed Balls makes observation on ITV Good Morning Britain

Susanna Reid spoke out in support of Fiona Bruce over the 'outrageous' pile-on she has faced following claims she had trivialised domestic violence during a discussion about Stanley Johnson on Question Time. The presenter was discussing the fact that the host of the BBC politics show had stepped back as an ambassador of domestic abuse charity Refuge during Tuesday morning's Good Morning Britain (March 14).

Bruce faced a social media backlash for her response afterthe 82-year-old father of former prime minister Boris Johnson was talked about in the show last Thursday night (March 9). In a statement given to the PA news agency on Monday, Bruce said that she was "required to legally contextualise" a response about Mr Johnson and the words are not an expression of her own opinions and she would never minimise domestic abuse.

The 58-year-old former newsreader added: "I know survivors of domestic abuse have been distressed by what I was required to say on-air. For that, I am deeply sorry. I cannot change what I was required to say, but I can apologise for the very real impact that I can see it has had.

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"I have been a passionate advocate and campaigner for all survivors of domestic abuse, and have used my privileged position as a woman in the public eye to bring this issue to the fore, notably in my work for over 25 years with Refuge. But following the events of last week, I have faced a social media storm, much of which mischaracterised what I said and took the form of personal abuse directed at me. The only people that matter in all this are the survivors, they are my priority."

Discussing the outrage on GMB,