The Independent’s race correspondent Nadine White is refusing to apologise or retract claims she made about Prince William last night, despite video footage appearing to disprove the allegations… and the story’s original reporter even apologising for mishearing William’s quote in the first place.
Following William and Kate’s visit to the Ukrainian Culture Centre yesterday, White tweeted “Prince William said it’s rather normal to see war and bloodshed in Africa and Asia but not Europe”. The tweet was shared over 25,000 times. The only problem is video footage later revealed this was a complete misquote…
Here’s what William actually said:
“Everyone is horrified by what they are seeing. It’s really horrifying. The news every day, it’s just, it’s almost unfathomable. For our generation, it’s very alien to see this in Europe. We’re all right behind you. We’re thinking about you. We feel so useless.”
At no point in the video does William claim it was “rather normal to see war and bloodshed in Africa and Asia“. Making the obvious and benign claim that no one below the age of around 70 has experienced full-scale war in Europe is not the same thing as saying it’s “normal” in Africa. Despite this, White insists she’s “standing by everything tweeted previously [and] Nothing inaccurate was posted.” So far, she’s yet to provide any evidence to support this and the video evidence totally contradicts her second hand report. Even as the Express’s Richard Palmer, the reporter of the original story, says:
The Duke of Cambridge […] doesn’t appear to have compared it to conflicts in Africa and Asia. In the chaos, a remark he made was misheard, starting a social media storm. Apologies for reporting that online.
The Daily Mail and PA also later corrected the record and admitted the original claims were “inaccurate“. Still, nice to collect a few retweets…
UPDATE: Nadine White has posted an update thread claiming “the source of any misunderstanding lies with the correspondent and PA – and no one else.” She adds that “those of us who took the original PA report in good faith and who commented should not now be subject to any criticism, as this saga was not of our doing.” She nonetheless tweeted “nothing inaccurate was posted” an hour after Palmer admitted his mistake, and after the video was released…
Political pundits and Westminster hacks (along with the rest of the country) eagerly watched England’s triumphant victory against rivals Germany in last night’s match. Guido has collected the best and worst political reactions.
- Enjoying the match from the stands Guido spotted, Sadiq Khan, Oliver Dowden, Dan Rosenfield, and David Lammy.
- Dowden proudly posted an instagram pic of himself celebrating alongside Prince William, George, and Kate Middleton.
- Boris Johnson took several staged photos with Carrie, featuring the pair enjoying football in the No. 10 offices. However, leaked videos from later in the night, show the PM almost jumping for joy when Kane scored England’s second goal, shouting “Harry Kane’s finally scored”. Boris actually recognised Harry Kane…
Boris Johnson limbs when Kane scored. pic.twitter.com/4b8SepNo3J
— Away Days Videos (@AwayDaysVideos) June 29, 2021
- Nicola Sturgeon reluctantly congratulated England for their victorious win, tweeting: “still just one team unbeaten by England so far in Euro2020″.
Congratulations, @England
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) June 29, 2021
(Still just one team unbeaten by 🏴 so far in @EURO2020 😉🏴)
- Angela Rayner couldn’t resist making a party political jibe, whilst everyone else was having fun watching the match. She tweeted “I’m genuinely worried Priti Patel would stop football at the border and try to deport it”.
I’m genuinely worried Priti Patel would stop football at the border and try to deport it https://t.co/rTwckjmyj0
— Angela Rayner (@AngelaRayner) June 29, 2021
Last night on Sky News, Isabel Oakeshott accused the Sky News of trying to start a “race row” with the worst take that goal scorer Raheem Sterling should have appeared on more front pages of newspapers.
Having avoided a national row about the kneeling, could we not avoid a race row when everyone is celebrating?
If Gordon Brown did curtsies…
Meet Labour’s newly selected parliamentary candidate in Welwyn Hatfield, Tara Lyons, who has told the world through social media that she’d like to “beat up” Prince William. She’s also fond of the word “b*tch” and threatens to “swing a f*cking punch”. Not one to get on the wrong side of…
Another stunning vetting fail by Labour. Keep sending in your candidates to watch…
The ruling is in: Closer magazine in France has been ordered to pay just €100,000 to Kate and William over those topless photos. Kate and Wills had sought €1.5 million…
Prince William “has given a clear signal of his support for Britain staying in Europe”, claims the Telegraph in their lead story this afternoon. Quite a scoop, if true. So, what did Wills actually say? Here is the Telegraph’s full quote:
“For centuries, Britain has been an outward looking nation. Hemmed in by sea, we have always sought to explore what is beyond the horizon.
That sense of mission and curiosity is something that I know continues to drive our economy, our cultural and educational exports and our Armed Forces and Diplomatic Service. And wherever we go, we have a long and proud tradition of seeking out allies and partners.
In an increasingly turbulent world, our ability to unite in common action with other nations is essential. It is the bedrock of our security and prosperity and is central to your work.
Right now, the big questions with which you wrestle – in the UN, NATO, the Middle East and elsewhere – are predicated on your commitment to working in partnership with others.”
Errr, he actually doesn’t mention the EU or the referendum at all…
In fact, William’s line that “we have always sought to explore what is beyond the horizon” could be interpreted as a Eurosceptic battle cry. After all, you can see the continent on the horizon…
What about Wills’ praise for Britain’s “sense of mission and curiosity”? And the line that: “wherever we go, we have a long and proud tradition of seeking out allies and partners”. European nations are already our allies and partners, so surely the Duke of Cambridge is saying he wants us to embrace our curiosity and seek new friends in the world? The Europhile spin on this is laughable, William’s speech could just as easily be spun as a call for Brexit…
