{"id":134681,"date":"2022-10-29T14:06:09","date_gmt":"2022-10-29T08:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/?p=134681"},"modified":"2022-10-29T14:06:09","modified_gmt":"2022-10-29T08:36:09","slug":"misinformation-false-claims-about-uk-pm-rishi-sunak-flood-social-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/misinformation-false-claims-about-uk-pm-rishi-sunak-flood-social-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Misinformation, false claims about UK PM Rishi Sunak flood social media"},"content":{"rendered":"

On October 27, the United Kingdom got its first non-white Prime Minister in Rishi Sunak. At 42, the former chancellor of the exchequer also became Britain\u2019s youngest Prime Minister in recent history. Against this backdrop, several videos of him have surfaced on social media with a wide range of claims.<\/p>\n

Claim I: Rishi Sunak lit diyas before entering the new office<\/h4>\n

A video of Rishi Sunak lighting diyas outside his home is circulating with the claim that it shows the new UK PM performing Diwali rituals. Some users have claimed that Sunak performed these traditions before entering his new office, while some said that he had performed these rituals after becoming the PM outside 11 Downing Street, his former home.<\/p>\n

User @ThisIsAfricaTIA tweeted the video and garnered almost 40K likes and over 8K retweets. (Archive<\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n

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The new UK PM performing his spiritual\/traditional rituals before entering his new office. We have largely abandoned ours. pic.twitter.com\/QMkeAkDkSC<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 This Is Africa (@ThisIsAfricaTIA) October 25, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

News24 tweeted the video with the caption “\u092c\u094d\u0930\u093f\u091f\u0947\u0928 \u0915\u0947 \u0928\u090f PM \u090b\u0937\u093f \u0938\u0941\u0928\u0915 \u0928\u0947 \u0932\u0902\u0926\u0928 \u0915\u0947 11 \u0921\u093e\u0909\u0928\u093f\u0902\u0917 \u0938\u094d\u091f\u094d\u0930\u0940\u091f \u092a\u0930 \u0905\u092a\u0928\u0947 \u0918\u0930 \u0915\u0947 \u092c\u093e\u0939\u0930 \u0926\u093f\u090f \u091c\u0932\u093e\u090f”. (Archive<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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\u092c\u094d\u0930\u093f\u091f\u0947\u0928 \u0915\u0947 \u0928\u090f PM \u090b\u0937\u093f \u0938\u0941\u0928\u0915 \u0928\u0947 \u0932\u0902\u0926\u0928 \u0915\u0947 11 \u0921\u093e\u0909\u0928\u093f\u0902\u0917 \u0938\u094d\u091f\u094d\u0930\u0940\u091f \u092a\u0930 \u0905\u092a\u0928\u0947 \u0918\u0930 \u0915\u0947 \u092c\u093e\u0939\u0930 \u0926\u093f\u090f \u091c\u0932\u093e\u090f @RishiSunak<\/a> #Diwali<\/a> #RishiSunakPM<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/3Xkty9Rkxj<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 News24 (@news24tvchannel) October 25, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It must be noted that 10 Downing Street<\/a> is the official residence and office of the British Prime Minister while 11 Downing Street<\/a> is the official residence of Britain’s chancellor of the exchequer, a post that Sunak held from February 13, 2020, to July 5, 2022<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Stills from the video have been shared on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Fact Check<\/h4>\n

Upon reverse image searching stills from the video, we found a video tweeted by Rishi Sunak’s official handle wherein he talks about Diwali festivities at his house at “No. 11” or 11 Downing Street. The video was uploaded on November 14, 2020, and is captioned, “I\u2019ve placed our rangoli outside No.11, the mithai are set to be delivered and the family Zoom is booked in….”. In between his interview, the viral video is played where he can be seen placing the diyas and the rangoli on the street. In November 2020, Sunak held the post of Britain’s chancellor of the exchequer. (Archive<\/a>)<\/p>\n

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I\u2019ve placed our rangoli outside No.11, the mithai are set to be delivered and the family Zoom is booked in.<\/p>\n

I know things will feel a bit different, and it\u2019s hard not to be able to see family, but we will get through this together.<\/p>\n

Happy Diwali everyone! pic.twitter.com\/4lDI8bH1HJ<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) November 14, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This incident was covered by major newspapers in 2020. The Guardian<\/a> used a picture of Sunak lighting the diyas in a November 2020 report. ‘The UK chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has urged fellow Hindus to ‘follow the rules’ during Diwali as he lit small clay oil lamps on the doorstep of his official residence at 11 Downing Street to mark the beginning of the five-day festival of lights,’ it said.<\/p>\n

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NDTV<\/a> also used a picture of Sunak lighting the diyas in their reportage of this incident. ‘Rishi Sunak Lights Diya<\/i> On Downing Street In London Ahead Of Diwali’ reads their headline.<\/p>\n

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Images of then chancellor Rishi Sunak lighting diyas for Diwali at his Downing Street residence on November 12, 2020, can also be found on Getty Images<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Thus it is clear that an old image of the present British PM lighting diyas has been circulating as a recent photograph.<\/p>\n

Claim II: Man dancing in video is Rishi Sunak<\/h4>\n

A video of a man dancing at a club has gone viral with the claim that he is British PM Rishi Sunak.<\/p>\n

User @Schandillia tweeted the video and garnered 3.6k likes. (Archive<\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n

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In case anyone were curious about what chaddi the new British PM wears\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/Hp5VkR59O5<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Amit Schandillia (@Schandillia) October 24, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

User @benallaoff tweeted the video and garnered 3.2k likes. (Archive<\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n

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PREMIER MINISTRE !!! \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7\ud83d\ude43 \ud83e\udd73\ud83c\udf89\ud83e\udd42\ud83c\udf7e pic.twitter.com\/4XXlLLSvXJ<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Alexandre Benalla \ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7 (@benallaoff) October 24, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Users @CaptainGzb and <\/span>@mdenaxa <\/span>also tweeted the video. (Archives- 1<\/a>, 2<\/a>)<\/span><\/p>\n