Tory MPs reprimanded after outcry over Keir Starmer ‘fake news’ tweets, Number 10 says
Nadine Dorries has since deleted the tweet (PA)
2 min read
Downing Street has confirmed that Conservative MPs who shared a doctored video posted by a right-wing account criticising Sir Keir Starmer have been reprimanded by party bosses.
Number 10 said MPs who shared a video making a series of claims about the Labour leader had been "spoken to by the whips’ office" and told to "check the validity" of information before posting.
Health minister Nadine Dorries and MPs Lucy Allan and Maria Caulfield were criticised for sharing the clip.
The video - which Ms Dorries first shared to her 96,000 Twitter followers - suggested that Sir Keir had been reluctant to prosecute grooming gangs while Director of Public Prosecutions.
She said the video was “revealing”, but later deleted the post after a Labour source said: "This is a doctored video tweeted by far-right social media account.
“As a government minister, we hope Nadine Dorries acknowledges this and takes it down."
The edited interview was viewed more than 200,000 times before the account which posted it was suspended.
Ms Allan, MP for Telford, also removed her tweet about the clip, before posting a messaging defending her decision.
She wrote: “There was a total failure by the authorities to understand #cse #grooming, a dismissive attitude towards victims, and a belief that victims brought it on themselves.”
Meanwhile, Ms Caulfield, the MP for Lewes and a former party vice-chairman, deleted her Twitter account entirely after she was criticised for posting that the video of Sir Keir showed “the true face of the Labour leader”.
The Number 10 spokesman said: “These tweets have rightly been deleted.
“The MPs involved have been spoken to by the whips’ office and reminded of their responsibility to check the validity of information before they post on social media sites.”
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