Labour has accused the Conservatives of creating “fake news” after a Tory attack video that went viral was edited to show Jeremy Corbyn refusing to condemn the IRA, when in fact the Labour leader said: “I condemn all the bombing by the loyalists and the IRA.”

The 85-second montage of Corbyn’s quotes has been circulating online for the last week and has been viewed 5.3m times, three times more than any other political campaign video. The Conservatives are also paying Facebook to insert it into people’s news feeds. It is subtitled: “On June 9th, this man could be Prime Minister. We can’t let that happen.”

Play Video 0:21 The clip from the Tory attack ad in question

It includes a clip from Corbyn’s appearance on Sky News last month when interviewer Sophy Ridge asked whether he could “condemn unequivocally the IRA”. The Labour leader said: “Look, bombing is wrong, all bombing is wrong, of course I condemn it.” Ridge responded: “But you’re condemning all bombing, can you condemn the IRA without equating it to.” Corbyn said: “No.”

The clip was cut off there but the full quote was: “No, I think what you have to say is all bombing has to be condemned and you have to bring about a peace process. Listen, in the 1980s Britain was looking for a military solution, it clearly was never going to work. Ask anyone in the British army at the time … I condemn all the bombing by the loyalists and the IRA.”

Play Video 1:10 Corbyn's response in full

The number of people who have watched the film is similar to a televised party election broadcast audience, but because it is on Facebook it is not regulated by Ofcom, which can only consider complaints about “unjust or unfair treatment of individuals or organisations” in TV party broadcasts.

Another Facebook advert paid for by the Conservatives claims Corbyn wants to abolish Britain’s armed forces. This is false. The Labour manifesto pledges to spend 2% of GDP on defence and states: “We will ensure that our armed forces are properly equipped and resourced to respond to wide-ranging security challenges.”

“The Conservatives are running a hateful campaign based on smears, innuendo and fake news,” said a spokesman for Corbyn. “They do so because they have nothing to offer the British people and their super-rich donors fear Labour’s plan to transform Britain for the many not the few.”

But a Conservative spokesman said: “We make no apology for drawing attention to the fact that Jeremy Corbyn has spent a lifetime siding with people who want to do Britain harm, would weaken our defences and make our country less safe. We encourage all readers to watch it and share with their family and friends.”

Does the Tory attack ad take Corbyn's remarks out of context? | Robert Booth Read more

The video also features Corbyn talking about “friends” in Hamas and Hezbollah and proposing to “close down Nato”.

Among the next most-viewed political videos were a Green party clip showing co-leader Caroline Lucas asking the home secretary, Amber Rudd, during Wednesday’s BBC debate: “I genuinely wonder how you sleep at night.” It has been viewed 1.7m times. But Labour had a hit of their own with more than 4 million people watching a clip of ITV’s political editor asking Theresa May “a question from Jeremy Corbyn from Islington” during an interview on Facebook Live.



The Guardian asked Conservative HQ if they wanted to highlight false claims in any Labour ads, but it declined.

The row came as the main parties cranked up their spending on Facebook advertising with six days to go until the election. Despite the Labour leader’s rising popularity the Conservatives are heavily targeting Corbyn with nine out of 10 of their adverts attacking him, according to an analysis of 889 Facebook ads placed by the three main parties into the feeds of more than 8,000 voters. The data has been gathered by the Who Targets Me project and analysed by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

One is subtitled: “A leader who supports our armed forces or one who wants to abolish them? The choice is clear: Corbyn and your security is too big a risk.”

The false claim may derive from the Conservatives’ attack video which includes a clip of Corbyn saying the words “abolish their army”. It is taken from a speech he gave at a Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament event in 2012 when he said: “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every politician around the world, instead of taking pride in the size of their armed forces, did what the people of Costa Rica have done and abolished their army and took pride in the fact they don’t have an army?”

Play Video 0:32 Corbyn's speech at a CND event in 2012

Another widely circulated Tory ad states: “Putting Jeremy Corbyn in charge of Britain’s Brexit negotiation – and our immigration system – is too big a risk to take.”

The strategy appears to reflect the wider approach being taken by Conservative-supporting newspapers of turning fire on Corbyn as polling day approaches.

Labour, by contrast, is hardly mentioning Theresa May in its social media campaign with only 9% of the 136 different ads seen so far by Who Targets Me referring to the prime minister.

The adverts that Labour is promoting hardest are not related to policy, but are urging people to get out and vote. The next most common topics addressed in paid for ads by the party are the NHS and tuition fees. The Conservatives are focusing most on Brexit, the economy and security while the Liberal Democrats are using Facebook ads to talk about Brexit and dementia but also to seek donations.