Anti-Brexit march footage from 2018 falsely shared as a recent cost of living protest in London

Context

Over the past year, several protests have taken place in the U.K. over the crisis emanating from the burgeoning cost of living, which has experienced a significant surge since 2021, with the inflation rate reaching 11.1 percent in October 2022, a 41-year peak. While it showed signs of easing in the following months, it rose from 10.1 percent in January to 10.4 percent in February, affecting the affordability of goods and services for households and businesses. 

On April 1, 2023, a video was shared on social media, claiming to capture a protest in London against the cost of living. The video shows an aerial view of a street filled with people, with the words "London 01/04/2023 cost of living march" written on it. The video has garnered over 4,200 likes and more than 4,700 shares. 

However, the clip is actually from an anti-Brexit protest in London on June 23, 2018.

In Fact

A reverse image search led us to a video showing an anti-Brexit protest that took place in London on June 23, 2018. Multiple news agencies, including CBS News and The Guardian, reported on the footage, in which thousands of anti-Brexit protesters marched on parliament in London, demanding a second EU referendum. We compared this video with the viral footage and concluded that both recordings captured the same incident. Both videos display a street square and a building with a yellow line on its rooftop, and the positions of protesters and vehicles are identical.

The Guardian published a similar aerial video of the anti-Brexit march on June 23, 2018. According to the report, tens of thousands of people attended the demonstration on the second anniversary of the EU referendum, walking from Pall Mall to Parliament Square in London. Protestors had different reasons for marching, including halting Brexit and demanding a second referendum on the deal.

While protests and strikes have been taking place in London over the cost of living crisis, the viral video has no link to them. No large-scale protest took place in London on April 1.

The Verdict

An old video from an anti-Brexit protest in 2018 has been falsely shared, claiming to show a recent march in London against the U.K.'s inflation and the rising cost of living. There, we have marked this claim as false.