A major claim on the comedy panel show has been debunked, leaving Victoria Coren Mitchell red-faced
Victoria Coren Mitchell made a mistake on HIGNFY (Image: BBC)
The latest episode of Have I Got News for You has been quickly removed from BBC iPlayer after presenter Victoria Coren Mitchell made a huge error regarding Labour’s plans to introduce digital ID cards. The Only Connect host anchored last night’s show (October 3), welcoming panellists Sheila Hancock, Miles Jupp, Ian Hislop and Paul Merton.
In one segment, Victoria asked the teams who will benefit from Keir Starmer’s decision to introduce the ID scheme, before telling them: “I was thinking of the company Multiverse, who has been chosen to run the digital ID cards scheme.” She said the company was founded by Tony Blair’s son Euan, joking: “That’s a happy coincidence, isn’t it?”
But now claims that Multiverse will run the project have been debunked by fact-checking company FullFact, which states: “This isn’t true, according to both the government and Multiverse, which is an ‘upskilling company’, not a software developer.”
It added: “The government has not announced any partner for the project. It’s understood the government expects digital ID to be designed, built and run by an in-house team, not outsourced to external suppliers, although there has been some media speculation about whether the scheme may create opportunities for other tech firms.”
The information seemingly comes from viral social media posts, but FullFact reports that there is “no evidence” of Blair’s son or the company being involved in the project, despite Tony Blair’s public advocation for the idea in the past.
Tony Blair’s son was rumoured to be involved in the project – but this has been debunked (Image: Getty)
Fans have been left outraged by the mistake, with one posting on social media: “Not just a throwaway quip but part of the script. Someone is getting a massive telling-off for this. (I bet it will be chopped out of the iPlayer edit too).”
A second social media user tweeted: “Oh my god. Have I Got News For You just referred to this completely false claim as a fact!”
Somebody else fumed: “Absolutely astonished, Have I Got News For You just stated that Multiverse will be running the government’s digital ID scheme. An incredibly basic failure of fact-checking.”
Express.co.uk has contacted the BBC for comment.
