Mordaunt claims ‘catfish Keir’ leading ‘deepfake Labour’

LONDON: Penny Mordaunt has claimed “deepfake Labour” are being led by “catfish Keir” as she claimed the Opposition leader is pretending to have a plan for the UK.

The Commons Leader said voters should not be “fooled” as she took aim at Sir Keir Starmer during the weekly business session in the chamber.Shadow Commons leader Lucy Powell had accused the Tories of putting “party before country” and having “given up on governing”.

Ms Mordaunt, speaking after updating MPs about the future debates in the Commons, said the Government has pledged to take action to improve online safety – including making it an offence to create a sexually explicit deepfake image.

She said: “The deepfake phenomenon is more widespread than you might think.“The public may well be fooled into thinking that something is the case when it is not or that the person they know is manifestly different and we need to expose such scams.

“They might be tempted … to believe that the person is committed to this nation’s nuclear deterrent, but in reality note that the same person was content to serve in the cabinet of the last Labour leader (Jeremy Corbyn) and that six of his frontbench voted to end our nuclear deterrent.

“They might think that the Labour Party is the party of the NHS, but as we know they’re the only party that has cut the NHS budget.“They might be tempted by the sound of secure economics only to discover that that is built on unfunded pledges and unspecified tax increases.”

Ms Mordaunt went on to accuse Labour of failing to back up their pledges to protect pensioners and businesses before attacking shadow cabinet members.She added Labour also “talks tough on borders”, adding: “But as of yesterday has voted 132 em. “The Leader of the Opposition has spent four years in office posting pictures to his profile of Neil Kinnock, Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher.

“Don’t be fooled. Behind that profile sits a man with no plan for this country, except the vested interests of militant unions, support for the arguments of those that would do this nation harm.

“It’s deepfake Labour led by catfish Keir, do not fall for it.”Ms Powell had earlier said of the Conservatives: “The truth is they’ve given up on governing, they’ve given up on winning the next election, it’s all about saving their own skin and the inevitable leadership battle.

“I can tell her that we on this side have been there before and it doesn’t end well.“The public don’t easily forgive politicians who put party before the country and don’t focus relentlessly on fixing the problems they face.”

Later in the session, Ms Mordaunt defended Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s smoke-free generation aim as “world-leading”, despite reports her support for the Tobacco and Vapes Bill wavered.

Ms Mordaunt was among 106 Tory MPs listed as having “no vote recorded”.She said: “The Prime Minister put forward world-leading legislation which he had passed by this House, I think that shows that he’s very much in control.”