General election: Labour deputy leader urges broadcasters to challenge Boris Johnson’s ‘fake news’

Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson has written to broadcasters urging them to challenge Boris Johnson if he resorts to “fake news” during the general election campaign.

Mr Watson claimed that politicians and media face “an unprecedented challenge” in the campaign for the 12 December poll because the Conservative leader “wilfully ignores” standards of decency observed by previous leaders.

He issued a list of 12 claims being made by Mr Johnson and other senior Tories in the campaign which Labour branded “false”.

These included:

* The suggestion that the prime minister’s Brexit deal has “passed” parliament, when in fact it has merely passed the second reading vote which allows it to go on to full debate and scrutiny by MPs.

* The claim that the deal means “no checks” between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, when Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay has said firms will have to submit declaration forms on goods.

* The assertion that the agreement is a “great new deal”, when former chancellor Philip Hammond has said it is the same as what was available to Theresa May last year.

* The claim that an extension to Article 50 costs £1bn a month, when the Office for Budget Responsibility says it does not change the amount payable.

Mr Watson also challenged Mr Johnson’s claim to be putting an extra £33bn into the NHS, when the real-terms figure – taking inflation into account – is £20bn over five years and is lower than average historical growth in health spending.

And he said that the PM’s promised “levelling up” in school funding actually amounts to a real-terms freeze leaving the bulk of state schools in England worse-off than before.

He also dismissed as “fantasy” Mr Johnson’s often-repeated claim that Labour wants two referendums in 2020.

Mr Watson said: “Ensuring honesty in public life is a responsibility that we all share. Boris Johnson’s wilful disregard for basic standards of decency are a threat to democracy. We appeal to the media to do what they do best and challenge Boris Johnson’s repeated attempts to rely on fake news, lies and distortions.”

The Labour deputy leader’s plea appeared to conflict with leader Jeremy Corbyn’s comments to reporters at his campaign launch in south London, when he told them: “I would ask our media, as good journalists, to just report what we say.”

A Conservative source said: “Tom Watson’s accusations led to a bungled probe into the claims of the fantasist Carl Beech and went far beyond the reach of an MP. He should do the decent thing and put his days of letter-writing and smears behind him.”