Fake Ed Miliband Guardian article shared on Facebook

A screenshot appears to show a Guardian opinion column written by energy secretary Ed Miliband MP headlined “Our GB Energy will become the envy of the world just like our NHS”. But this isn’t a real article. 

A post including the screenshot has been viewed more than 194,000 times on X (formerly Twitter), and it has also been shared on Facebook.

A Google search shows no such article currently exists on the Guardian’s website. The outlet’s opinion section does not feature any articles published by Mr Miliband on 6 September 2024, the date shown in the screenshot. 

Mr Miliband has written a number of opinion columns for the Guardian, including two mentioning Great British Energy since plans to create the publicly-owned renewable energy company were announced in September 2022, but none of them have this headline. Internet archive site the Wayback Machine shows the headlines for the two articles which reference Great British Energy have not been changed. 

The Guardian told Full Fact that “the screenshot shared is not and has never been an article or headline published by the Guardian”, while the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero also confirmed the screenshot was fake and that no such article from Ed Miliband was published.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a fake Guardian opinion column being shared online—we have previously debunked articles claimed to be written by American vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Eddie Izzard.

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