No-nonsense Susanna Reid makes Boris Johnson squirm as she grills him over cost of living crisis in GMB showdown

SUSANNA Reid skewered Boris Johnson over Britain's cost of living hell today and blasted: "You're not doing enough for people."

During a fiery GMB grilling live from No10, the no-nonsense telly host presented the PM with tragic stories of families struggling to make ends meet.

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She made him squirm with the desperate plight of one widowed pensioner who has resorted to eating just one meal a day to save money.

Sheepish Mr Johnson insisted he was doing "everything we can" - but admitted he could not completely shield people from crippling costs.

The pair locked horns in the PM's first GMB interview in almost five years following a Government boycott of the breakfast show.

In the blazing showdown:

• Mr Johnson warned "very severe" inflation could send mortgage repayments through the roof
• He slapped down calls for a windfall tax on energy giants recording record profits
• Susanna confronted the PM on the sluggish visa scheme for Ukrainian refugees
• The PM insisted he was an "honest" politician in a grilling on his Partygate woes
• Susanna called Lorraine Kelly a "legend" after the

Hauling the PM over the coals, Susanna told him about 77-year-old Elsie who is struggling to heat her council house.

Susanna said: "She gets up early in the morning to use her freedom bus pass to stay on buses all day to avoid using energy at home. What else should Elsie cut back on?"

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Mr Johnson replied that he didn't want Elsie to "cut back on anything" - before reminding her he launched 24hr freedom bus passes when Mayor of London.

Withering Susanna fired back: "Marvellous, so she should be grateful to you for her bus pass?"

The PM scrambled to lay out the cash packages he is putting on to cushion the cost of living blow whacking hard-pressed families.

He pointed to the £150 council tax cut and the £200 rebate off energy bills - adding the government is doing "everything we can".

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But PM admitted it still would not be enough to shield everyone from the cost of living onslaught clobbering Brits.

He said: "I accept that those contributions from the taxpayer - because that's what it is, taxpayer money - isn't going to be enough immediately to cover everybody's costs."

The PM insisted much of the problem were global energy price hikes rolling over to shopping bills, adding: "The cost of chickens is crazy!"

CRUNCH POINT

The GMB showdown came ahead of Thursday's local elections, where the Tories are braced for a mid-term drubbing.

As well as the cost of living, voters could punish Mr Johnson over the Partygate saga that has dogged the PM for months.

At the top of the interview Susanna opened by asking the PM if he was an "honest" PM.

Mr Johnson refuted suggestions he was a Partygate liar but once again apologised for "inadvertently" misleading MPs over the storm.

Susanna and the PM also locked horns over the visa scheme for desperate Ukrainian refugees trying to get to Britain.

The GMB presenter skewered the convoluted system that means babies are being screened at the border.

Earlier in the show President Zelensky's wife Olena also criticised the delays besetting the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

She said: "“I know that many British people have opened their homes to Ukrainian women and children fleeing the horrors of war. However, the procedure still remains complicated and quite long."

Mr Johnson fired back: "The results are starting to be really excellent."

He added: "It’s important in a war time situation, such as what we have, that people are, I’m afraid, pretending to be otherwise… but it’s important to protect the system from those who might want to abuse it…"

The PM is addressing the Ukrainian Parliament this morning where he will give a Churchillian speech.

He will tell MPs in Kyiv their resistance against Russia is their "finest hour".

But his GMB interview had an awkward finish as Susanna handed over to Lorraine Kelly for her show.

Mr Johnson said: "Who's Lorraine?" Susanna replied: "Lorraine is a legend."

Speaking from the studio, Richard Madeley said the show had been inundated with questions for the PM from viewers.

He said one questioned how the country can find the cash for the war in Ukraine, blasting: "People are struggling to heat, eat and fight the rising cost of living."

But Ukraine's ambassador to UK, Vadym Prystaiko, told the show shortly before the PM's interview that Britain's support is invaluable.

Asked by Susanna what the country can do to help, he quickly answered: "You already help."

Mr Prystaiko says he's lobbied Priti Patel directly over delays to visas for Ukrainian refugees, and urged the Government to temporarily allow visa-free travel "to relieve people from unnecessarily long bureaucratic procedures".

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Boris yesterday vowed to slash energy bills by building a new energy reactor every year - after admitting it's “crucial that the government fixes our energy supply issues”.

France and Switzerland had been able to ride the wave of global gas price hikes thanks to their high tech nuclear stations, he said.

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