• Disrupting Power Since 2015
  • Donate
  • Login
Wednesday, May 14, 2025
  • Login
  • Register
Canary
MEDIA THAT DISRUPTS
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
MANAGE SUBSCRIPTION
SUPPORT
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
Canary
No Result
View All Result

11 words from Dominic Raab on the Twitter ‘fact check’ scandal sum up why no one can trust the Tories

Emily Apple by Emily Apple
20 November 2019
in Trending, UK
Reading Time: 3 mins read
167 5
A A
2
Home Trending
319
SHARES
2.5k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Foreign secretary Dominic Raab appeared on BBC Breakfast on 20 November to defend his party’s decision to temporarily rebrand its Twitter page as a “factcheckUK”.

But 11 words from Raab summed up why no one can trust the Tories – let alone rely on them to check facts.

‘Who really cares about this social media business anyway?’

Raab was repeatedly asked about why the party had decided to pull the Twitter stunt. But the best line he seemed to be able to muster was:

No one gives a toss about the social media cut and thrust

But as comedian David Schneider pointed out, this statement doesn’t quite stand up to scrutiny:

https://twitter.com/davidschneider/status/1197118300037234689

And as other people pointed out, it also doesn’t match the reality of what we know about companies such as Cambridge Analytica:

Raab: "No one gives a toss about the cut and thrust of social media"

Bannon / Banks / Cambridge Analytica / Farage / Cummings: "Hold my algorithm"

— Ben Goren (@BanGaoRen) November 20, 2019

Oh yes, no one cares. Of course.

Raab’s line is obviously nonsense. And just one look at the figures the Conservative Party is spending on social media shows how far from the truth his comment is.

According to the Guardian, the Conservative Party spent £142,977 on Facebook and Instagram advertising in the first 18 days of the election campaign. And in the year prior to the June 2017 election, the party spent £2.1m just on Facebook.

That’s an awful lot of money to spend on something people apparently don’t “give a toss” about.

We’re all fact-checkers now

But this wasn’t the only ridiculous line Raab delivered during the interview. After being confronted with genuine fact-checker Full Fact’s comments on what happened, Raab stated:

Well who said Full Fact is the final arbiter of what the public get to see? … They’re not, there’s no god-given right set in law.

Well, Raab is right – there is ‘no god-given law’ – but unlike the Conservative Party, the public has good reason to trust Full Fact. It’s a registered charity that:

actively seek[s] a diverse range of funding and are transparent about all our sources of income.

And it has “a cross-party Board of Trustees and safeguards in place at every level of our organisation to ensure our neutrality”.

But given that the site regularly exposes Boris Johnson’s blatant lies with actual, you know, facts, Raab’s attitude is hardly surprising. For example, during the leadership debate, the site pointed out that Johnson said corporation tax was the lowest in Europe:

while Jeremy Corbyn “would whack it up to the highest in Europe”.

The UK’s corporation tax is not the lowest in Europe. It’s currently 19% in the UK, but in Ireland it’s 12.5%, in Lithuania it’s 15% and in Hungary it’s 9%.

We don’t know Labour’s policy for corporation tax as its manifesto isn’t out yet, but its proposal at the last election was to raise corporation tax to 26% by 2020/21, which wouldn’t be the highest in Europe. For example, in France, it’s currently between 31% and 33.33%.

Hardly a fact the Tories’ fake account was likely to highlight.

You can’t trust the Tories

Raab’s response to the Twitter scandal shows why no one should ever trust the Tories. But if you’ve lived through nearly ten years of austerity and seen the brutality that successive Conservative-led governments have inflicted on this country, that should be clear already.

It’s time for a change. And it’s time to kick these smug, lying, elitist arseholes out of power for good.

Featured image via Twitter screengrab

Share128Tweet80
Previous Post

The amazing video that should end anti-Corbyn smears once and for all

Next Post

10 times Corbyn won the debate against Johnson

Next Post
10 times Corbyn won the debate against Johnson

10 times Corbyn won the debate against Johnson

Boris Johnson

While we’re on the subject of fact-checking, Boris Johnson just lied 3 times in 45 seconds

ITV's Nina Hossain

The 10 most disturbing words of ITV's election coverage weren't uttered by a candidate, but by the show's host

Images of different internet companies

The billionaire deals between governments and big-tech companies should worry us all

Smoke shrouds Sydney as fires continue

Please login to join discussion
The British Museum just held an event with the Israeli embassy - and the Met police responded by repressing Palestine protesters
News

British Museum holds event with the Israeli embassy – so Met Police respond by repressing Palestine protesters

by The Canary
14 May 2025
EXPOSED: the public is paying for Keir Starmer's in-laws to live virtually rent-free in London
Analysis

EXPOSED: the public is paying for Keir Starmer’s in-laws to live virtually rent-free in London

by Ed Sykes
14 May 2025
People are coming together on 7 June to oppose Labour's DWP benefit cuts
News

People are coming together on 7 June to oppose Labour’s DWP benefit cuts

by The Canary
14 May 2025
Keir Starmer's 'Island of Strangers' speech: channeling the racist rhetoric of Enoch Powell
Opinion

Is Keir Starmer capable of killing?

by Jamie Driscoll
14 May 2025
As an ACTUAL GENOCIDE continues, its apologists come for Gary Lineker over an emoji
Opinion

As an ACTUAL GENOCIDE continues, its apologists come for Gary Lineker over an emoji

by Ed Sykes
14 May 2025
  • Contact
  • About & FAQ
  • Get our Daily News Email
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy

The Canary
PO Box 71199
LONDON
SE20 9EX

Canary Media Ltd – registered in England. Company registration number 09788095.

For guest posting, contact [email protected]

For other enquiries, contact: [email protected]

The Canary is owned and run by independent journalists and volunteers, NOT offshore billionaires.

You can write for us, or support us by making a regular or one-off donation.

© Canary Media Ltd 2024, all rights reserved | Website by Monster | Hosted by Krystal | Privacy Settings

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion

© 2023 Canary - Worker's co-op.

Before you go, have you seen...?

The British Museum just held an event with the Israeli embassy - and the Met police responded by repressing Palestine protesters
News
The Canary

British Museum holds event with the Israeli embassy – so Met Police respond by repressing Palestine protesters

EXPOSED: the public is paying for Keir Starmer's in-laws to live virtually rent-free in London
Analysis
Ed Sykes

EXPOSED: the public is paying for Keir Starmer’s in-laws to live virtually rent-free in London

People are coming together on 7 June to oppose Labour's DWP benefit cuts
News
The Canary

People are coming together on 7 June to oppose Labour’s DWP benefit cuts

Keir Starmer's 'Island of Strangers' speech: channeling the racist rhetoric of Enoch Powell
Opinion
Jamie Driscoll

Is Keir Starmer capable of killing?

ADVERTISEMENT
Business
Nathan Spears

When digital isn’t enough: why paper still matters in modern business

Tech
Nathan Spears

How Digital Addictions Are Formed in the Shadow of Large Platforms

Lifestyle
Nathan Spears

Recovery in the Sun: How the Canary Islands are Becoming a Wellness Tourism Hub