Yahoo News Conservatives accused of doctoring clip of Keir Starmer interview
Watch the doctored video above and the original version
The Conservatives have been accused of doctoring a clip of Keir Starmer to make him “look stumped”.
The shadow Brexit Secretary appeared on Good Morning Britain on Tuesday to discuss Labour’s policy for leaving the EU ahead of the upcoming general election.
A video posted on the official Tory Twitter account in the wake of the interview appeared to show Mr Starmer struggling to respond to Piers Morgan and Suzanna Reid’s questions on Brexit.
It was captioned: “WATCH: Jeremy Corbyn's Brexit Minister can't or won't answer a simple question about Labour's position on Brexit.”
But soon after it was uploaded, the BBC’s Home Affairs correspondent Daniel Sandford re-tweeted the video, adding: “So this happened. The Conservative Party took an interview from GMB this morning.
“They edited it to add on the last shot in which Keir Starmer looks stumped. But that didn't happen.
“In the original Keir Starmer immediately answered Piers Morgan's question.”
Piers Morgan also weighed in, tweeting: “Correct, he did, albeit not very convincingly - but the way this has been edited is misleading & unfair to Keir Starmer.”
Prominent Tory MPs were also criticised for sharing the version of the allegedly doctored video.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock shared it with the caption: “Labour can’t even explain their own Brexit plan to the country. Why should anyone vote for them?”
It comes after Twitter announced it would be banning all political advertising from its service, saying social media companies give advertisers an unfair advantage in proliferating highly targeted, misleading messages.
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In a series of tweets announcing the new worldwide policy, Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey said: “While internet advertising is incredibly powerful and very effective for commercial advertisers, that power brings significant risks to politics, where it can be used to influence votes to affect the lives of millions.”
Facebook has faced criticism since it disclosed earlier in October that it will not fact-check ads by politicians or their campaigns.
Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg told US Congress last week that politicians have the right to free speech on Facebook.
Yahoo News has contacted the Conservatives, Labour and Twitter for comment.
