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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Nicola Bartlett & Dan Bloom

Outrage over pro-Tory 'propaganda' clip broadcast in 'thousands' of primary schools

A concerned MP claims pro-Tory "propaganda" has appeared on 3,000 primary school noticeboards.

Stella Creasy raised concerns about the messages in Parliament after being told they had been broadcast on digital noticeboards in primary schools across the country.

The Labour MP asked the Prime Minister to condemn the use of political advertising in schools after being contacted by a number of concerned parents.

She  told the House of Commons: "Earlier today parents in Walthamstow contacted extremely concerned about the content of a presentation about the prime minister’s proposals and Brexit.

"It had been broadcast on what transpires to be 3,000 digital noticeboards of primary schools around this country, without the consent of the schools.

Pro-Tory 'propaganda' clip accused of being aired in primary schools (Twitter)

"Given the amount of money this government is spending on Brexit adverts, can he at least reassure Walthamstow residents that in this instance it wasn’t his doing?

"And give his personal pledge that our primary schools will remain Brexit propaganda-free zones?"

The images support the Prime Minister (Twitter)

The Prime Minister said he was unaware of the adverts but he did not condemn the principle.

Boris Johnson responded by saying: "Obviously the honourable lady is bringing me news about the schools in her constituency.

"What I can tell her is that we’re investing more in every primary school in this country."

The Mirror understands several parents sounded the alarm after the clip appeared yesterday on an outdoor digital noticeboard at a school in her Walthamstow constituency.

The noticeboards are thought to be run by a company called Anomaly Ltd and usually show non-political information such as healthy eating tips.

But bizarrely the message that appeared yesterday contained several statements that airbrushed Mr Johnson's record.

One said "he wants to unite the UK" - over a union flag background, while another said: "He has promised Brexit would be done".

A third said: "He has promised to put more money into schools, more money into the NHS and 20,000 police officers back to the streets".

But it didn't mention years of Tory austerity, including cutting more than 20,000 police in the first place.

One of the clips aired in primary schools (Twitter)

A parent who spoke to the firm's managing director said they were told the video had been sent to noticeboards in 3,000 primary schools yesterday.

However, parents who raised the alarm were then also told the video was withdrawn yesterday - before Ms Creasy raised it in the House of Commons - following a backlash.

The Mirror contacted Anomaly Group for comment yesterday.

Writing on Twitter , Stella Creasy MP confirmed she did not believe the adverts were government-funded.

She said: "These slides were certainly shown in Walthamstow and across country today but don’t think it’s govenment-funded."

She added that she was "more concerned" the Prime Minister "didn’t seem to have a problem with idea in first place".

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