An apparently ‘joking’ Tory aide has spilt the beans on the true nature of the Conservative research department (CRD).
We do “fake news”
Speaking to BuzzFeed News in a 16 November article, the Tory aide branded CRD their “fake news unit”. And given even the BBC has called Tory research “fake news”, it seems there’s more than a grain of truth here:
Even the BBC's Jo Coburn couldn't stomach the Tories' "fake news" here:pic.twitter.com/X4gRTqmgyQ
— James Wright (@wrightismight) November 16, 2019
Earlier in the campaign, the Conservatives were fearmongering about the ‘costings’ of Labour’s investment policies. Presenter Coburn said:
Based on assumptions and misinformation. It’s fake news… You’ve literally taken every single press release or policy proposal that was ever written by anybody, either commissioned by Labour or looked at as part of a discussion plan, and you’ve tripled it, and you’ve said that that is a legitimate cost.
Now the Tories are apparently admitting the proposals are “fake news”, as Labour warned:
This ludicrous piece of Tory fake news is an incompetent mish-mash of debunked estimates and bad maths cooked up because they know Labour’s plans for real change are popular. pic.twitter.com/cvXiYktDzc
— Labour Press (@labourpress) November 9, 2019
Panicking Tories
The BuzzFeed article also details how Conservative candidates and strategists are worried that a shift in polling could see Labour gaining momentum. One recent Survation poll had Labour just six points behind the Conservatives with a month to go. In 2017, Survation found that same result but just 10 days before election day.
BuzzFeed reports that the Conservatives’:
chief concern is that Labour has won the media narrative almost every day over the last two weeks.
In fact, Conservative strategists are apparently consoling themselves, believing that the TV debates will be a pro-Tory turning point.
What’s clear is that if Labour can continue dominating the media narrative and its mass membership ground campaign, the party can win a majority. The Tories, meanwhile, are left scrambling around for any fake news they can find.
Featured image via BBC News/ YouTube
