The Sun, Britain’s most-loathed hate-rag, published yet another anti-Labour smear article today – a piece of ‘journalism’ that epitomises what an utter joke the Murdoch-run rag is. Needless to say, however, the piece is outright fake news, and, what’s more, by publishing this unashamedly misleading piece, The Sun’s editors are almost certainly intentionally taking the p*ss out of their own readers.
Under the headline “PUT-UP-JOBS Labour MPs branded ‘hypocrites’ for advertising jobs below their £10 Living Wage pledge“, The Sun reported that Labour were a ‘party of hypocrites’ because numerous Labour MPs were “advertising for jobs paid below their £10 Living Wage pledge”,
The Sun article, scribbled by Matt Dathan, went on to claim that:
Shadow Cabinet ministers Angela Rayner, Laura Piddock (sic), Cat Smith and Valerie Vaz were all found recruiting staff on wages of between £7.32 and £9.23 per hour.
And, as ever, the far-right rag managed to wheel out a number of Tory MPs to criticise Labour’s supposed hypocrisy, with former Tory leader and former DWP-deathmonger Iain Duncan Smith saying it was:
another case of Labour saying one thing and doing another. This has a Corbyn-wisp of hypocrisy.
Whilst everyone’s favourite filibuster-in-Chief, Philip Davies, said:
Socialism has always been a great bastion of hypocrisy, people who say one thing and do another, and people who lecture everyone else about what they should and shouldn’t be doing and yet think those same rules shouldn’t apply to them.
This is simply another prime example of that long tradition of socialists.
The Sun’s article went on to claim that:
The revelations are humiliating for Labour – and come just 48 hours after the party responded to the Government’s nine-month review of employment rights to reiterate their pledge to introduce a “real living wage of at least £10 per hour”.
As you may have anticipated, there are a few tiny little facts that The Sun have conveniently decided to omit from their article – ones that their editors will, more than likely, have been more than fully aware of, but decided to simply ignore in a shameless attempt to fool their own readers into believing lies.
Whilst The Sun is right to claim that the Labour MPs did advertise the jobs on a scale which included a base salary which worked out at below the national living wage, all Labour MPs do pay their staff the national living wage or higher.
And, probably the most crucial fact to be omitted from this latest fake news Sun smear, is the fact that ALL MPs are duty-bound to advertise these jobs in accordance with the salary scales set out by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority.
Labour MPs Emma Dent-Coad and Cat Smith, who The Sun named in their fake news article, were furious:
If the Prime Minister is serious about setting up a "fake news" investigation she should start with her friends in the right-wing press. Allegations in the S*n that anyone in my office is employed on less than the London Living Wage are utter rubbish.
— Emma Dent Coad (@emmadentcoad) February 9, 2018
Despite correcting a journalist last night, disappointing to see national paper run a story they know to be untrue. All my staff earn more than £10 an hour and I’ve always advertised in line with IPSA payscales which MPs have to do. Complaint to follow.
— Cat Smith (@CatSmithMP) February 9, 2018
So there you have it, despite Labour MPs paying their staff the Living Wage or above, and despite the fact that all MPs are forced to advertise jobs on the same pay scale as every other MP in Parliament, The Sun have conveniently decided to miss out these facts, and in turn, take the p*ss out of their ever-declining readership of gullible fools.
Incidentally, if you were wondering, The Sun are regulated by the Independent Press Standards Authority – whose complaints page can be found here.
However, should you decide to make a complaint about this latest brazen fake news article, just be aware that up until January 12th, IPSO’s board really did contain a vehemently anti-Labour columnist who just happens to work for The Sun – Trevor Kavanagh.
This is the same IPSO that decided to throw out all complaints about Trevor Kavanagh’s disgustingly Fascistic article – a piece which ranted and raved about ‘The Muslim Problem’, and echoed the rhetoric contained in disgustingly anti-Semitic Nazi propaganda.
British media really is a complete and utter joke. And the supposedly independent organisation set up to monitor them are even more of a joke.
Where was Theresa May’s fake news unit when the people of Britain actually needed them, eh?
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