Jeremy Corbyn supporters ridiculed after claiming BBC 'doctored' Labour leader's 'Lenin cap' to make him 'look more Russian'
A key ally of Jeremy Corbyn has backed claims the BBC manipulated a picture of the Labour leader wearing a hat to make it “look more Russian”.
A recent discussion on BBC Newsnight featured a red backdrop showing Mr Corbyn wearing a so-called “Lenin cap” and positioned next to the Kremlin.
Mr Corbyn has been photographed wearing the soft, flat-topped cap, which is synonymous with Vladimir Lenin, the Russian revolutionary leader, on numerous occasions.
But supporters of the Labour leader claimed the BBC had “doctored” the image to make Mr Corbyn look like a “Soviet stooge” in the wake of the Salisbury spy attack.
It was also claimed the picture of Mr Corbyn wearing the cap had been selected on purpose to make him appear “as Leninesque as possible”.
The allegations sparked a social media firestorm as Mr Corbyn’s supporters attacked the BBC and clashed with many other users who ridiculed the notion that the broadcaster had made changes to the image.
The BBC rejected the claims and said the image of Mr Corbyn “was not altered”.
But the accusations were backed by Laura Pidcock, a Labour MP and shadow business minister, who posted on Twitter: “It might not seem a huge issue that BBC Newsnight photoshopped Jeremy Corbyn’s hat to look more Russian, or that Evan Davis denied it.
The photo was not altered. We often recycle backdrops when covering stories of a similar theme, in this case Russia, and will include an image of an individual if they are the focus of the story. Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has also appeared over this backdrop previously.
— BBC News Press Team (@BBCNewsPR) March 17, 2018
“But in the broader context of media smearing of the Labour leader, it becomes pretty unacceptable.”
The accusations were given short shrift by Gavin Shuker, the Labour MP for Luton South, who tweeted: “Corbyn hat people: you’re all loons.”
Mr Davis, the BBC Newsnight presenter, was challenged over the image during a live broadcast and he said “it wasn’t Photoshopped, it was real”.
The BBC News press team challenged the idea that Newsnight had tried to make Mr Corbyn appear “more Russian” by pointing out that the programme had “recycled” a backdrop featuring the Kremlin which is often used during discussions relating to Russia.
Gavin Williamson, the Defence Secretary, was recently pictured on the same backdrop during a similar discussion, the BBC said.
Our (excellent,hardworking) graphics team explained the image has had the contrast increased & been colour treated, usual treatment for screen graphics as they need more contrast to work through the screens. If you look you can see it’s same hat in silhouette
— Jess Brammar (@jessbrammar) March 17, 2018
Jess Brammar, the acting editor of BBC Newsnight, also took to Twitter to rubbish the accusations that the image of Mr Corbyn had been manipulated with some supporters of the Labour leader suggesting the cap had been made to appear larger than it actually was.
Ms Brammar said “Newsnight didn’t photoshop a hat” and insisted the programme’s graphics team had simply increased the contrast of the image and “colour treated” it, which she said was “usual treatment for screen graphics as they need more contrast to work through the screens”.