Conservative Party under fire for 'fake' Brexit deal claim

The Conservative Party has been accused of spreading "fake" information after claiming Boris Johnson's Brexit deal bill has "passed parliament".

Multiple posts making the claim were posted by the party's official Twitter account in the days after the prime minister introduced his EU Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB) in the Commons.

The draft law cleared the first of several key hurdles but has now been paused by the prime minister - meaning it has not passed parliament.

The original posts claimed "Boris Johnson's new Brexit deal passed Parliament last night" and "Brexit deal has passed Parliament tonight".

And the same statement was echoed in an email to some Tory supporters touting for donations in a message signed by the prime minister.

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Labour MP Valerie Vaz said it was "outrageous" to claim the deal has passed, when it had only been given the go-ahead at its first key parliamentary test and faced several big hurdles.

She suggested the donations could come from "those who've made money betting on the fall of the pound".

Sam Gyimah, a Liberal Democrat MP, called the Tories' claims "fake news".

"Conservatives claiming their Brexit deal has passed parliament is like the England team saying they've won the World Cup, when they've just qualified for the knock-out stages.

"Yet again they are playing the electorate for fools."

Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg confirmed: "The deal has passed its second reading - that is a passage through parliament, that is an indication of parliament's assent.

"It is not, however, an indication of the complete legislative programme.

"I don't think that's an unduly difficult concept. But if people reading this and paying attention are now aware of this and wish to make donations, of course they'll be very welcome."

He added he hoped the question had given "further publicity to the marvellous work that the Conservative Party is doing".

The future stages the WAB needs to pass are its committee, report and third reading in the Commons, as well as all its remaining stages in the House of Lords.

The Conservative Party has been contacted for comment.