A screenshot being shared on Facebook appears to show a Guardian opinion column written by comedian Eddie Izzard, headlined: “I’ve been a struggling mother. I know first hand the hardship caused by the cost of living crisis”.
But no such article exists. The screenshot has been faked, as indicated by the logo at the top saying “The Grauniad” instead of “The Guardian”.
Ms Izzard, who goes by she/her pronouns, has not written anything for the Guardian comment section recently with this or any other headline. We could find no record of an article with this headline having been written by anyone else. The latest Guardian article to mention her was published on 4 August about her plans to become Labour’s candidate for the Brighton Pavilion.
The subheading of the fake article refers to this, saying: “I will bend over backwards to help those in need as MP for Brighton Pavilion”.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a fake Guardian opinion column being shared online—we checked one last month claiming a lawyer wrote that she supported looting in France. We’ve also looked at other fake headlines, including one about “asymptomatic global warming” and another about an Insulate Britain protester in an ambulance delayed by another protest.
Image courtesy of Giuseppe Sollazzo