Susanna Reid, who co-hosts the flagship ITV morning show alongside former Labour minister Ed Balls , also said the bank holiday was “outrageous” and questioned how long it would “take Scots to get over [it]”.
Other GMB panellists claimed the bank holiday set a “terrible precedent” and said of Scottish people: “How hungover do they get?”
SNP MSP Alan Brown said it was “hard not to laugh” at the discussion on the topic on Good Morning Britain on Tuesday, adding people had been “taking to the ITV airwaves to gripe and moan”.
Social media users who saw the GMB broadcast questioned the “anti-Scottish comments” and called for an apology from the panel.
Scotland will play Haiti in their World Cup opener, which kicks off at 2am UK time on Sunday, June 14. Monday, June 15 has been made a bank holiday by the Scottish Government to mark the occasion, although not every council area has opted to take it up.
Opening a debate on the topic, Reid said: “Let’s turn our attention to what a lot of people are outraged about this morning – although lots of people are getting in touch saying let them have it – the bank holiday in Scotland for their first World Cup opening game.
“King Charles has approved a new one-off bank holiday to allow fans to watch the late night World Cup clash so they get next Monday off.
“Now, anyone watching might think, is that because the game is late on a Sunday, or early on a Monday morning? No!”
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After reading out viewers’ comments both against and in favour of the bank holiday, Reid added: “I mean, it’s pretty outrageous. How long does it take Scots to get over the fact that they’ve played their first match?”
Kevin Maguire, a panellist from the Daily Mirror, said the bank holiday was “really small time this by Scotland”. “Because it is 2am, you can go to bed early Sunday or late Sunday morning and sleep it off,” he added.
Gillian Keegan, the former Tory education secretary who lost her seat in the Commons in the 2024 General Election, then said: “It sets a terrible precedent. So anytime anything happens, there is a call for a bank holiday.
“A bank holiday for this, a bank holiday for that, and normally the answer is no, because there’s eight bank holidays and it costs a lot of money to have a bank holiday.”
There are eight annual bank holidays in England. In Scotland there are nine each year.
Former Tory minister Gillian Keegan (left) and Daily Mirror journalist Kevin Maguire (Image: ITV)
Balls, the husband of Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, cut in: “It costs billions of pounds for a UK bank holiday. This will cost hundreds of millions of pounds to the Scottish economy.”
He then asked: “How hungover do they get?”
Keegan said that “they’ve got a whole day to get over their hangover”, before Maguire said: “The following day, if you go to work, don’t get sloshed. You can still enjoy the football without being out of your head on alcohol.”
Reid asked: “Is that the sort of unspoken acknowledgement that it is about alcohol?”
The Daily Mirror journalist responded: “Yeah, I think it’s going to be shown in thousands of pubs in Scotland now at 2am. You can imagine the state of people.”
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The discussion sparked accusations of anti-Scottish rhetoric on social media, with one user writing: “Very condescending attitude from all the presenters taking part in that debate! Extremely anti-Scottish.
“Not everyone is getting it and not everyone wants it. I don’t even like football but thought your comments were uncalled for!!!”
A second responded: “I completely agree with your comments. I thought the presenters also focused heavily on stereotypes, portraying Scots as heavy drinkers.
“Do better Good Morning Britain. Your presenters owe some of your audience an apology.”
Very condescending attitude from all the presenters taking part in that debate! Extremely anti Scottish. Not everyone is getting it and not everyone wants it. I don’t even like football but thought your comments were uncalled for!!!
— Donna Duxbury (@DDonna892) June 9, 2026
Below a poll on Twitter/X asking if it is “unfair for Scottish people to get a day off on Monday for the FIFA World Cup while the rest of the UK will be hard at work”, a third wrote: “Is this supposed to be Good Morning Britain more like Good Morning England. Would they be saying this if it was England?”
“It’s disappointing that your programme is again taking an anti-Scottish view,” a fourth responded to the poll.
SNP MSP Brown said: “Scotland’s return to the World Cup is an historic moment of national pride that brings communities together in a way that only football can.
“It was absolutely right that the SNP Scottish Government recognised that fact and announced the bank holiday to allow people across Scotland – in our NHS and elsewhere – to enjoy and savour the moment.
“To hear a chorus of people from south of the Border taking to the ITV airwaves to gripe and moan is one thing, but it’s hard not to laugh at a former Tory minister lashing out.
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“Here in Scotland we have a summer of sport to celebrate with our World Cup return and the Glasgow Commonwealth games, but I look forward to the GMB poll on if it’s fair that every single Commonwealth Games has been free to view in England, but it’s behind a paywall when it’s held in Scotland.
“Perhaps we could also have a poll on whether it is fair that England national team games have been free to view while Scotland games were locked away in expensive subscription packages for years?
“I hope folk across Scotland enjoy the bank holiday and that Steve Clarke and the boys do us proud out in America.”
