By: Kari Nixon
June 7 2024
Footage of Labour leader Keir Starmer being barred from a pub is from 2021
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X post showing video of Starmer attempting to enter Bath pub
Fact-Check
The Verdict Misleading
This video does not depict recent election-related events, but instead frustration over his pro-lockdown policies during COVID-19
Context
On June 5, 2024, a post on X, formerly Twitter (archived here) circulated without context, showing Labour Party leader Keir Starmer being banned from a pub in Bath, England. As of June 7, the post had garnered 556,000 views and 4,800 likes, with some reposting users appearing to believe the video depicted recent events leading up to the U.K. election on July 4.
Some users have also implied this was due to Keir Starmer's views on Palestine.
In fact
In the video, Starmer and his aides are wearing masks, which immediately signified that the video may not be recent, given that COVID-19 mask mandates ended in the U.K. in 2022. From this, we found previous X posts stating that the event occurred during the earlier stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We verified this by locating contemporaneous coverage of the event by The Guardian and Sky News dating from 2021. Rob Humphris, one of the landlords of the pub in question, The Raven, in Bath, strongly disagreed with Starmer's support of COVID-19 lockdowns, telling the BBC at the time that Starmer had allowed the British economy to suffer during COVID-19.
In the extended clip, Humphris, who does not wear a mask throughout the clip, can be seen telling Starmer, "You have failed to be the opposition; you have failed to question whether the lockdown was functioning."
Thus, rather than representing a current frustration with Starmer's perceived conservatism, this video represents a three-year-old frustration with Starmer's support of COVID-19 lockdown procedures.
The verdict
This video is from April 19, 2021, and shows Starmer being denied entry to a pub during COVID-19 because of his support of COVID-19 restrictions. Therefore, we have marked this claim as misleading.
Follow Logically Facts' coverage and fact-checking of the U.K. General Election here.
The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to a lot of potentially dangerous misinformation. For reliable advice on COVID-19, including symptoms, prevention, and available treatment, please refer to the World Health Organization or your national healthcare authority.