BBC Breakfast viewers fumed on Tuesday morning when Prime Minister Keir Starmer made an unexpected appearance outside Downing Street. The live interview came ahead of a weekly meeting with his Cabinet - and just over two weeks until the Autumn Budget.
During the interview, Sir Keir Starmer warned again that October 30 would bring a "tough" Budget amid speculation that Chancellor Rachel Reeves could announce more tax rises than those included in Labour's manifesto.
That manifesto included a promise not to raise taxes on "working people", including income tax, VAT and national insurance.
But the Government has faced questions on whether the commitment not to raise national insurance covered employers' contributions as well as those by employees.
On Tuesday, Sir Keir declined to rule out raising employers' contributions, saying Labour had been "very clear in the manifesto that we wouldn't be increasing tax on working people".
READ MORE: Keir Starmer squirms as BBC reporter grills him over new tax hike threat [LATEST]
He added: "It wasn't just the manifesto, we said it repeatedly in the campaign and we intend to keep the promises that we made in our manifesto."
Elsewhere in the interview, the PM welcomed private investment of £550 million to make it easier for people to find a home.
Starmer said: "We've said as a Government we're going to fix the foundations, rebuild our country, and expressly saying 'now is the time to back us'.
"Companies and investors are coming in today saying 'here's half a billion pounds'. We want to raise that, by the way, I want that to be up over £1 billion before too long."
However, the interview did not go down well with some viewers and many took to social media to share their complaints.
One wrote: "Not a good start to my day...poured a coffee sat down to watch the news and Starmer was on...good job the remote was close at hand @bbcbreakfast."
A second complained: "@sallynugent @BBCBreakfast @BBCOne @BBCNews Decent to give a warning so the remaining viewers can switch off."
While a third fumed: "@BBCBreakfast why are you giving #Starmer any air time #StarmerOut he’s making a fool of this country."
And a fourth raged: "@BBCBreakfast Starmer not answering Henry’s questions."
