Anonymous blogger was first to report claims government was gagging media over Grenfell

Steven Walker runs left wing blog 'Skwawkbox', accused of spreading fake news

Mr Walker, 52, is a successful corporate CEO who sells private services to NHS

He is behind left-wing blog Skwawkbox which publishes pro-Corbyn propaganda

Cabinet Office spokesman confirmed that Walker's story was 'absolutely untrue'

Comes as BBC blasted for inviting 'alt-left' blogger and editor to Question Time

An anonymous, left wing blogger who reported false claims that the Government was gagging the media over the Grenfell fire disaster is a corporate CEO who sells private services to the NHS, MailOnline can reveal.

Steven Walker, 52, who has attempted to keep his identity hidden, runs the influential website Skwawkbox, which published false allegations that the government was concealing details of the tragedy, that went viral.

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Mr Walker reported claims that officials had placed a D-notice - an official request to editors not to publish sensitive information - on the real number of deaths in the blaze.

No government D-notice had been ordered. The story was picked up by two more news sites before going viral on social media.

Steven Walker, (right), who has kept his identity hidden, is behind left wing blog Skwawkbox – which reported false allegations that the government gagged the media over the Grenfell tragedy

Walker, left, a father of two, also published false claims that Theresa May was being investigated by Cabinet Office for 'conflict of interest on Brexit'

Mr Walker is sales director and CEO of a company called Foojit, which provides mailing solutions to the NHS. He has appeared on BBC with his face blurred to hide his identity

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Mr Walker, a father of two, is the sales director and CEO of a company called Foojit, which provides mailing solutions to the NHS.

In 2015, he joined forces with two other entrepreneurs and invested £400,000 in high tech equipment to set up the company.

Foojit made money from the NHS by providing its mailing system to the Levenshulme Health Clinic in Manchester.

Skwawkbox regularly criticises NHS privatisation and the blog's header motif includes a depiction of the NHS logo.

Mr Walker's website and other 'alt left' bloggers are behind pro-Jeremy Corbyn propaganda that helped Labour's shock election success

Labour MP John Mann told MailOnline: 'Skwawkbox is not a credible or decent media outlet. They make it up as they go along. They have no credibility. It is a nasty, pernicious outlet.

'The way Steve Walker has been hiding his identity like some sort of Russian mobster is cowardly. It is totally indefensible that he influences UK politics while hiding his identity.

'He absolutely needs to be exposed. We need to know who he is and what his motivation is. The internet needs to be regulated, just as the press is regulated.'

Skwawkbox also faced claims it spreads fake news when it published the false allegation that Theresa May was under investigation by the Cabinet Office for 'conflict of interest on Brexit'.

The blog repeated claims that the Propriety and Ethics Team had launched an investigation into the Prime Minister.

Mrs May, it said, was accused of failing to declare that her husband's company was making 'profits of billions of pounds' in 'Brexit-related activities'.

A Cabinet Office spokesman confirmed that the story was 'absolutely untrue' and that there had been no investigation, adding: 'The Prime Minister has declared in full her interests and the interests of her husband. There is no conflict of interest.'

Skwawkbox and other 'alt left' blogs are often more widely read than established UK media sites, analysis by Buzzfeed revealed.

Skwawkbox's Grenfell Tower story was shared more than 16,000 times on Facebook, while its story on Theresa May was shared 31,000 times.

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By comparison, the BBC website averages 1,115 shares per article and the popular i website averages 2,932, Buzzfeed analysis revealed.

Mr Walker's Skwawkbox also published the false allegation that Theresa May was under investigation by the Cabinet Office for 'conflict of interest on Brexit'

When asked about the fake story about the Prime Minister, the Skwawkbox founder told MailOnline: 'If something comes up like that in the middle of the night and you can't manage to get hold of the Cabinet Office while it's a hot topic, you'll report on the fact that it's a hot topic rather than report and say this is true.'

He also hit back against claims that his Grenfell Tower story was fake by claiming it was legitimate because he had used the word 'if' and 'speech-marks'.

Mr Walker's blog began in 2012 but is now run by a team of six. Each month, its audience is growing.

Before the election, Skwawkbox reached 500,000 people a month and that number is now thought to be approaching a million.

The site first found an audience when Mr Waker began blogging about the scandal at the mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust. His wife, Kathryn, 53, said on Facebook that she worked in the NHS.

The blog is known for publishing the pro-Corbyn propaganda that helped Labour's shock election success by galvanising the youth vote.

Mr Walker said: 'We played our part [in the general election result]. As a whole, sites like ours took credit. We had a reasonable impact on social media. We got the items out.

'Our viewing figures went up quite a bit during the election. I would like to think we encouraged young people to vote.'

Skwawkbox is noted for running stories that seem to have been briefed by Corbyn's inner circle, including insider quotes that suggest links with to senior Labour members.

Kerry-Anne Mendoza (pictured), a former banker and management consultant, runs the Canary, another website that has been accused of inaccuracy and fake news

Mr Walker's Facebook page shows that he is friends with a number of key Labour figures including Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner and Chris Bryant MP.

'It's not like we have a line straight to Jeremy or anything like that, but I've worked hard to create sources at Parliamentary level that is spread across the country,' he told MailOnline.

'We have connections so that we can get information from Corbyn if we want. I think we get good information and we have good sources.'

Solihull MP Julian Knight said in Parliament: 'Broadcasters, particularly those in receipt of licence fee money, should confront rather than cosy up to politically motivated websites that purvey fake news.'

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Mr Walker was controversially interviewed about Skwawkbox on the BBC last month, appearing with his face blurred.

It comes as MPs blasted the BBC for inviting another 'alt-Left' blogger, Kerry-Anne Mendoza, onto last week's Question Time. She was booed by her audience and told to 'shush' by host David Dimbleby after she repeatedly interrupted fellow guests.

Kerry-Anne Mendoza, who appeared on last night's Question Time, who was told to 'shush' by host David Dimbleby after she repeatedly interrupted fellow panellists

Ms Mendoza, a former banker and management consultant, runs the Canary, another website that has been accused of inaccuracy and fake news.

Speaking to MailOnline, Mr Walker said: 'There's a team of us. I tend to front a lot of the stuff but there's an informal team.

'Nobody's getting paid for it, it's all done for the passion of the cause.'

He added: 'There's no adverts on the site. We're not trying to make any money from the site, it's not a commercial venture. You'll get people donating a quid here or there. It's not read by rich people on the whole.'