The Labour minister Jess Phillips has said comments she made about the riots in Birmingham were a “mistake”, following criticism by opposition parties.
The Birmingham Yardley MP and Home Office minister had been accused by shadow Home Secretary James Cleverly of “making excuses for masked men” intimidating the media over a social media post of hers earlier this month.
Sky News reports today she told broadcasters: “Of course I would choose my words more carefully. I’m more than happy to say that when I make a mistake. Absolutely.
“I was trying to get across that this gathering of people had been manufactured by misinformation.”
It followed Reform MP Richard Tice sharing a clip of a Sky News broadcast on August 5, in which masked men approached a presenter on air, with one gesturing as though they were pulling a trigger towards the camera.
These people came to this location because it has been spread that racists were coming to attack them. This misinformation was spread entirely to create this content. Don’t spread it MR Tice! https://t.co/l03oTp7fdB
— Jess Phillips (@jessphillips) August 5, 2024
Phillips wrote on X at the time: “These people came to this location because it has been spread that racists were coming to attack them. This misinformation was spread entirely to create this content. Don’t spread it MR Tice!”
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