Senior News and Online Journalist
Health
Online posts imply smear tests are dangerous due to the gas used to sterilise medical devices. But swabs disinfected in this way do not pose a danger to patients. Read
Immigration
The viral video clip of a man filming himself swimming with a selfie stick was actually taken in a harbour in El Jadida, Morocco, which is over 250 miles from Spain’s Ceuta. Read
Shopping
Posts claim a Facebook user’s daughter knows about the deal because she works at the department store—but the deal isn’t a real John Lewis one. Read
Politics
There are real pictures of the Prime Minister running near his home in Cheshire but one image circulating online has been edited to include people with cameras and microphones in the foreground. Read
Economy, Business & Finance
The figures circulating online resemble wholesale electricity price values we’ve checked before rather than consumer energy costs. Read
Health
The NHS said the claim is “not true”. There was a local pilot in Gloucestershire for lower-league football, but not for Premier League tickets. Read
Immigration
In the final days of Sir Keir Starmer’s government, we saw familiar posts circulating on social media claiming that the former prime minister “won the case that gave illegal migrants … Read
Politics
No, the Guardian did not publish an article claiming that ‘genetic links’ have been found ‘proving that eating bacon in the morning has links to far-right activism’. Read
Politics
An art exhibit that shows an elderly woman lying on the ground was first exhibited months prior to Ann Widdecombe’s death. Read
Sport
The footballer did wave a Palestinian flag during a victory parade after FC Barcelona won La Liga in May, but pictures of him draped in the flag at the 2026 World Cup final are fake. Read
