‘It's not fake news to tell the truth!’ Martin Daubney clashes with Labour MP in furious grooming gangs row

Martin Daubney declared it was “not fake news to tell the truth” during a furious row with Labour MP Kanishka Narayan over grooming gangs.

The AI and Online Safety Minister was discussing the Government’s upcoming social media ban when the debate boiled over.

Defending prohibiting access to the platforms to under-16s, Mr Narayan said individuals were “seeing high levels of bullying, high levels of suicide being encouraged and grooming happening on social media.

“We're not going to stand for it. We're cracking down on it,” he declared.

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The mention of grooming risks prompted Martin to intervene, keen to hold the Government to account on their record over the scandal.

“There's a lot of real-world grooming that happened when the Labour Party simply turned the other way. Your party voted against the grooming inquiry", he said.

“Is this really about child protection, or is it really about something else? Control? Censorship?"

Mr Narayan pounced on the comment, responding: “One of the things we're trying to crack down on for young people is fake news.

“So I dispute the fake news that we're not being tough on grooming gangs. We've got robust inquiries,” he stressed.

“Your party voted against the rape gang inquiry until you were dragged into it,” Martin shot back.

“We have consistently backed enquiries against crime and gangs. We will leave no stone unturned in making sure that women, girls, and young people in this country are fully supported and kept safe online and offline,” the Minister insisted.

The back-and-forth continued, with Martin demanding to know what Mr Narayan considered “fake news”.

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“I pointed out to you that a majority of Labour Party parliamentarians voted against the agreement gang inquiry until the public backlash was so huge that you had to do a U-turn on it. These are the facts. That's not fake news.

“When I pointed out that the Labour Party voted against the grooming gang inquiry, you said it was fake news. Would you like to withdraw that allegation?”

However, the Labour Minister said he would “encourage you (Martin) to revisit your claims”.

“You specifically said that the Labour Party has not supported groom and gang enquiries. That is incorrect. You're talking about a very specific vote on a very minute point of detail,” he argued.

“I think viewers and listeners can ascertain the truth for themselves,” Martin returned.

The GB News host said it “spoke volumes” that Mr Narayan’s “first instinct is to attack me, to shoot the messenger”.

“I'll not be accused of fake news. It's not fake news to tell the truth,” a furious Martin began at the conclusion of the interview.

“It’s not fake news to challenge power. It's not fake news to do your job. It's my job to challenge parliamentarians. That's what I did.

“He said it was fake news. Go and have a look at how the Labour Party voted on that grooming gang inquiry. And we'll see who's telling the fake news.”

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