Chuka Umunna has suggested a possible coup against Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson, and wrote “It’s a fact the no-deal Brexit is the best possible outcome for the party”.
This is incorrect. Mr Umunna has not done either of these things, and the claim comes from edited images masquerading as a genuine Guardian news article.
On Friday, a Twitter user wrote “chuka turning on the lib dems already, not a man to be trusted at all”, alongside four screenshots. These images were of an apparent Guardian article headlined “Leaked emails expose turmoil at heart of Liberal Democrat leadership”.
This article is a fake. The supposed author of the Guardian article, and real Guardian journalist, confirmed that he had not written such a piece. A quick Google search shows that no articles with such a headline exist on the Guardian’s website.
Other signs that the image is fake are that the headline font used is not quite the same as the Guardian’s, and there is a stray letter and full stop (presumably from the original unedited image) which hasn’t been fully removed in the second screenshot.
The fake Guardian article went on to falsely claim that Chuka Umunna (who joined the Liberal Democrats in June) had suggested a possible coup against their newly-elected leader, Jo Swinson, and also wrote “It’s a fact the no-deal Brexit is the best possible outcome for the party”.
We’ve written more about how to spot misleading images online here.
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