Robert Jenrick accused of spreading doctored voice recording that misquotes Labour MP

Reform MP Robert Jenrick has tried to whip up further outrage about immigration by doctoring a voice recording, to suggest that Labour’s new immigration minister said she “didn’t care” about stopping small boats.

Jenrick shared a recording that he has now deleted in which Jo White, the new immigration minister, talks about small boats.

In the post, he claimed that White said “I don’t care if we stop the boats”. 

In the caption, Jenrick wrote: “Meet the new Immigration Minister. Burnham clearly doesn’t give a stuff about stopping the boats. We need a general election.”

Commenting on Jenrick’s post, White said: “This is an edited audio clip which deliberately and fraudulently misquotes me speaking at a meeting with local residents last year.”

White published the full audio from the constituency meeting in which she said: “I don’t care who will stop the boats, but my number one priority is to stop those boats”. 

Despite sharing a recording that White says spreads “a false account” of her words, Jenrick said that her position was “very confused”, adding “she appeared to say with one breath she wants to stop the boats, then with the next breath I don’t care about stopping the boats”.

White has demanded an apology from Reform and called on them to withdraw their false claim. In an interview with TalkTV this morning, Jenrick refused to apologise. 

As one poster online wrote: “He’s the first one to cry about “fake news” but can’t even apologise when it’s him spreading misinformation.”

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward