The Daily Mail front page did not call Boris Johnson a traitor

A post claims to show the Daily Mail front page from Monday 11 November 2019 criticising Prime Minister Boris Johnson for covering up a report that showed the Conservative party had received donations from Russian donors with suspected Kremlin links. It has been shared thousands of times on Facebook.

The caption reads: “An official report finds that Boris Johnson’s Conservative party received donations from nine Russian donors with suspected links to the Kremlin. Does our Prime Minister choose to publsh [sic] it? No, Johnson PERSONALLY blocks publication of the report.” The headline reads: “YOU TRAITOR”.

However, this is not a real Daily Mail front page.

A number of inaccuracies, such as spelling mistakes, the wrong font, and an incorrect price, are all clues that it’s not real.

The front page of the Daily Mail on Monday 11 November 2019 featured an image of the Queen crying at the Remembrance Sunday service and a story about Mr Johnson saying he will change the law to protect Northern Ireland veterans.

The Mail on Sunday carried a similar story on 10 November to the one on the fake front page of the Mail. The article on pages 16 and 17 said: “The Prime Minister has faced a torrent of criticism after blocking the publication of a report by Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee into Russian malfeasance and the British electoral system until after December's Election.”

A separate article in the Times on 10 November said: “Nine Russian business people who gave money to the Conservative Party are named in a secret intelligence report on the threats posed to UK democracy which was suppressed last week by Downing Street.”