Fact check: Social media user ‘sworn at by Streeting’ has history of fake videos

A viral audio clip purporting to record Wes Streeting swearing at a man comes from a social media user who has manipulated media in the past.

Thursday 04 July 2024 11:46 BST

The account which posted it to social media was set up last month and has a history of posting manipulated media critical of senior Labour politicians (Jordan Pettitt/PA) (PA Wire)

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A social media user has posted an alleged audio clip of Labour candidate Wes Streeting.

The user claims to have seen Mr Streeting “on the campaign trail” before asking him about his stance on the conflict in Gaza.

In the clip, Mr Streeting is apparently asked if he cares about innocent Palestinians being killed, and responding: “No, I f***ing don’t, now f*** off you little c***.”

This is followed by a woman’s voice asking the person to “leave him alone”.

Evaluation

Mr Streeting has called the clip “obviously fake”.

While the PA news agency has been unable to prove beyond doubt that the clip has been manipulated, the account which posted it to social media was set up just last month and has a history of posting manipulated media critical of senior Labour politicians.

The facts

Mr Streeting said: “Another obviously fake audio clip is circulating (I’d call it a deep fake, but it’s so poor that shallow fake is probably more apt). Just the latest dirty tactic being deployed against me – and the latest to backfire, too.”

The X account that posted the original clip self-describes as a “Corbynista” and was only set up in June 2024 after the election was called.

Since setting up the account, the user has posted videos manipulating Wes Streeting’s voice, portraying a satirical conversation between Sir Keir Starmer and Jimmy Savile, and a video that is flagged by X as “manipulated” that appears to show Sir Keir acknowledging a lack of “compelling” testimony against Savile.

The user also posted an audio clip of an alleged call into James O’Brien’s LBC radio programme on June 10, but a version of that edition of the show uploaded to YouTube did not feature the exchange featured in the clip.

Additionally, the swearing recording lacks a video element that would show Mr Streeting and instead shows soundwave graphics and subtitles instead of a raw recording.