Susanna Reid blasted over 'off the scale hypocrisy' by enraged Good Morning Britain fans

Susanna Reid has been branded a "hypocrite" for telling Good Morning Britain viewers "we failed out children during the pandemic".

During the latest instalment of the ITV news programme, Susanna and co-host Richard Madeley discussed how school closures during lockdown reportedly "mean poorer GCSE results for pupils in England well into the 20230s".

However, viewers lashed out on X, formerly known as Twitter, as they accused Susanna - as well as Good Morning Britain - of encouraging school closures on the programme during the peak of the pandemic.

One viewer fumed: "The hypocrisy from Susanna Reid is off the scale... go back four years and have a look at how she and Piers Morgan were shouting for lockdowns."

Ken added: "The sheer brass neck of Reid and GMB using their selective memories to say ‘I think we failed our children’. I remember them campaigning with the Unions for more and longer lockdowns and castigating any minister who dared suggest otherwise..."

Another raged: "Is Reid for real!!!!! She screamed for lockdown so don't you dare backtrack now." (sic)

Dave said: "Wow that’s some major hypocrisy there from Susanna - GMB screamed for lockdowns, screamed that children were superspreaders. Did you think we had forgotten??? YOU are just as responsible."

However, Stuart wrote: "Missing school certainly affects you. But I do wonder if there is an opportunity here as well. We have had 25 years of pushing one size fits all. Many tradesmen and Nurses I have known, left school with a couple of GCSEs. They had great careers and just went another way in life. Education comes in many forms, I genuinely think that has been forgotten in this country as well. We seem obsessed with league tables and exam results, have we forgotten about people and that we are all different and that all jobs are important?" (sic)

Kath said: "Fair play to Susanna, she saw this coming, I remember her challenging seemingly chaotic approach to education at the time and the impact it would have for those year groups. Lowering grade thresholds this year & next would at least reduce pressure on kids who haven't completed the curriculum!" (sic)

The 53-year-old presenter told ITV viewers: "Children affected by the pandemic face the biggest decline in GCSE outcomes in decades and an unprecedented widening of the socioeconomic gap.

"This is because of the closures during Covid. Fewer than two in five pupils will achieve a grade five or above in GCSE mathematics and English in 2030."

Susanna shared: "Looking back, I think we failed our children during the pandemic. I feel like at the time there was no clarity on what was going to happen to exams - I mean exams were cancelled in 2020 and then the algorithm just threw people's chances of going to university.

"It felt like private schools could give out good results and others stuck to the algorithm.

"Then the following year, students had missed out on a huge chunk of learning... But we are now four years on from the pandemic and it's not going to finish until 2030."

Good Morning Britain airs on weekdays between 6am and 9am on ITV and ITVX.