THE political editors of both the BBC and ITV were forced to apologise last night after they wrongly claimed a Labour activist had assaulted a Tory staffer.
Laura Kuenssberg and Robert Peston said they had been told of the attack by senior sources, but video footage seemed to show more of an accidental bump than anything deliberate.
The incident happened outside Leeds General Infirmary where Health Secretary Matt Hancock was meeting with bosses after the Tories were shamed by a picture of a four-year-old boy with pneumonia forced to sleep on the floor due to a lack of beds.
Earlier in the day, ITN’s Joe Pike had tried to show Boris Johnson a picture of the child, but the Prime Minister had grabbed the journalist’s phone and placed it in his pocket.
After the bizarre reaction sparked fury online, the party’s HQ sent Hancock to the hospital in a bid to quell the brewing row.
However, Tory aides then briefed a selected group of journalists that on his way out of the hospital the Health Secretary had been heckled by a large crowd of protesters. The Tories claimed these activists had been sent to the hospital by Labour. The party then claimed that Hancock’s adviser had been “punched in the face” by a Labour “thug”.
READ MORE: Kaye Adams slams Nicola Sturgeon for not appearing on radio show
Kuenssberg tweeted: “So Matt Hancock was despatched to Leeds General (sorry not just Leeds Hospital), to try to sort out the mess, hearing Labour activists scrambled to go + protest, and it turned nasty when they arrived - one of them punched Hancock’s adviser.”
ITV’s Robert Peston claimed Hancock’s adviser had been “whacked in the face by a protester”. The Mail, the Express, the Sun, the Telegraph and the Guardian also quickly tweeted news about the punch. But actual video footage showed that this wasn’t what had happened at all.
It showed a handful of protesters, including a cyclist, wearing hi-viz, getting agitated with Hancock, and gesticulating with his right arm as he shouted “shame on you”, “we do not want you in this country” and “you are not welcome in this hospital”.
The minister’s adviser then appeared to accidentally walk into the man’s hand mid-gesticulation. The video footage sparked fury with calls for Kuenssberg and Peston to be sacked.
You met some peaceful protestors annoyed that a four year old had to stay on a hospital floor and then one of your team walked into a finger pic.twitter.com/fwkZTrdzPg
— James Felton (@JimMFelton) December 9, 2019
Guardian columnist and Jeremy Corbyn supporter Owen Jones tweeted: “I cannot believe this. A load of senior journalists, including [Kuenssberg] whose wages we pay, uncritically circulated Tory claims that a Tory advisor had been punched, which already led to right-wing media outlets making it a story.
“It. Never. Happened.”
The former Channel 4 and BBC journalist Paul Mason tweeted: “Let’s get clear what the BBC got wrong over the Leeds incident. It relied on a single, partisan source with no corroborative evidence, providing right-wing newspapers with a BBC branded fake news story.”
Kuenssberg later deleted her tweet.
She also shared footage of the incident, writing: “Have video from Hancock leaving Leeds General just come through so you can see for yourself - doesn’t look like punch thrown, rather, one of Tory team walks into protester’s arm, pretty grim encounter.”
The BBC journalist later tweeted: “Happy to apologise for earlier confusion about the punch that wasn’t a punch outside Leeds General - 2 sources suggested it had happened but clear from video that was wrong”
READ MORE: Laura Kuenssberg faces criticism over Tory 'punch' claim
Peston also apologised.
He tweeted: “It is completely clear from video footage that @MattHancock’s adviser was not whacked by a protestor, as I was told by senior Tories, but that he inadvertently walked into a protestor’s hand. I apologise for getting this wrong.”
A Labour spokeswoman declared: “The Tories are so desperate to distract from a four year old boy sleeping on a hospital floor because of their cuts to our NHS that they have resorted to bare faced lying.”
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell tweeted: “Johnson and the Tories lie and they cheat to manipulate the media.
“A sick child treated on the floor of a hospital and they try divert attention with a dead cat lie story. Never has our politics sunk so low in our country since Johnson took over.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel