Jeremy Corbyn stood accused of spreading fake news over the Christmas period, after highlighting a Channel 4 film that heaps praise on a homeless man, who compains he has not been given a bed and blames Brexit. Corbyn added his own comment, saying “this Government fails those who have given so much to our country.” The video highlights former soldier Stephen Rowe sleeping rough and complaining that in order to receive Government help “you have to fit the criteria”. In the video he does not say what criteria he fails to fit…
Helpfully, ITV’s Peter Smith has pointed out that in this specific case “some avenues have been cut off to Mr Rowe” due to the fact that he was convicted of attacking and attempting to rape an 87 year old woman, and placed on the sex offenders register for life. The court described Rowe as “a danger to women”. Homeless veterans do receive Government help, difficulties arise in giving them a bed if they have a violent history of attacking women…
This follows on from Corbyn’s praise of another homeless man who turned out to be a Portuguese national, and convicted paedophile who had been deported from the UK.
UPDATE: Channel 4 News have now deleted their video from Twitter. Guido wonders if they neglected to carry out basic research before making the video, or if they just chose to leave out crucial details…
UPDATE II: Statement from a Channel 4 News spokeswoman:
We were made aware of Steven – as we believed he was called – by a charity supporting homeless veterans. It has since emerged that he previously went by the same name but with a different spelling and that he has a more complicated past, in addition to what was broadcast.
Under the circumstances, we have decided to remove his story from our website, however we will remain in contact with the charity to ensure that he receives the help that he needs.
The Go-Fund-Me page which was set up for him is no longer accepting donations. All funds received will be shared among two charities that support homeless veterans and refunds are also being offered.
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