What was claimed
A video shows 20,000 people singing an offensive chant about Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
Our verdict
This is not the clip’s original audio. The footage shows people at a concert celebrating the 80th anniversary of VE Day, and there are no reports of any such chanting there. The audio actually comes from people chanting at a nightclub in Hereford.
A video is being shared on social media with claims it shows crowds singing an offensive chant about Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, but this is not the original audio.
The clip shows rows of people facing a stage and waving Union Jack flags. A person with a microphone can be heard leading the chant: “Keir Starmer’s a w***er”. Overlaid text on the clip says: “The British people have spoken”.
Several posts on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram have shared the clip with the caption: “This is 20,000 British patriots calling Keir Starmer a w***er. The message is clear. The people of Britain want your resignation.”
However, this is not the original audio for this footage. The chanting comes from videos showing a scene at Trilogy nightclub in Hereford that was shared online earlier this month. Trilogy nightclub shared a clip of the chanting on their social media channels, saying: “All these clubbers can’t be wrong - join us again tonight to chant the new Trilogy national anthem”.
The edited footage being shared on social media shows the VE Day 80 concert on Thursday 8 May at Horse Guards Parade, celebrating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. There were no reports of any such chanting at the concert, which Mr Starmer attended, along with the King and other members of the Royal Family.
While we’ve not been able to find this VE Day clip with its original audio, footage of similar scenes from different angles shows the crowd singing the song Sweet Caroline.
This is not the first time we’ve seen clips circulating on social media with edited audio. We’ve previously written about a recording of swearing protesters added to a clip of Keir Starmer leaving a polling station during local elections last year, and an abusive comment added to a clip of former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak while he was jogging.
It’s important to consider whether content you see on Facebook comes from a reliable source before sharing it. Our guide to spotting misleading videos may help you to do this.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as altered because this is not the clip’s original audio. The footage shows people at a concert celebrating the 80th anniversary of VE Day, and there are no reports of any such chanting there. The audio actually comes from people chanting at a nightclub.
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