Wes Streeting and the GBNews "coup"
How Islamophobic lies became the main news on TV
In mid-November 2025, a wave of media stories and social media commentary erupted over claims that allies of Labour leader Keir Starmer believed Health Secretary Wes Streeting was plotting to oust him. The coverage quickly spiralled from anonymous briefings into an elaborate narrative involving race, religion, sexuality, and alleged media collusion. What emerged was not just political drama, but a case study in how coordinated disinformation can thrive in plain sight, with no institutional resistance.
A Timeline of Escalation
On November 11, political reporter Alex Wickham broke a story on X (formerly Twitter):
“Keir Starmer’s allies have accused Wes Streeting of plotting to oust him from office, warning that any attempt to do so would trigger a market shock — as supporters of Streeting go to war with No10...”
This was immediately picked up by Carl Benjamin (@Sargon_of_Akkad), who responded with a mocking popcorn GIF. The implication was clear: chaos was entertaining, and the rumour was probably true.
Within hours, key phrases like “market shock,” “briefing war,” and “coup” began circulating among partisan influencers and fringe accounts. Spiked Online, under editor Tom Slater, released two consecutive posts portraying Starmer as weak and Streeting as part of a collapsing Labour project. Both used the same photo, headline structure, and messaging. The goal was narrative saturation.
The Coordinated Spread
The phrase “These claims are categorically untrue...”, which appeared in official statements from Streeting, was parroted across a cluster of small accounts, some bot-like in activity, others anonymous. Most repeated the phrase in sarcastic or skeptical tone. One example:
“So it’s probably true then.”
This phrasing wasn’t just recycled, it was distributed in bursts, often with nearly identical formatting and posted within minutes of each other. This matches known bot amplification tactics: burst timing, repeated slogans, and mass retweets of identical phrasing.
Meanwhile, verified accounts like @benonwine and fringe influencers began introducing a second-tier narrative: that Streeting was merely a stalking horse, and the real plan was to install Shabana Mahmood as the UK’s first Muslim Prime Minister. This was explicitly stated by ex-GB News Loon Dan Wootton, who, alongside Dr. Layke, alleged an “Islamist plot” inside Labour. The broadcast was clipped, subtitled, and reshared by anonymous accounts very soon after airing.
Conspiratorial and Hate-Driven Offshoots
As the narrative metastasized, it absorbed broader far-right grievances:
Accounts linked the leadership speculation to immigration crime stories, such as the tragic killing of Wayne Broadhurst.
Tweets mocked the idea of a gay prime minister (Streeting) under “Sharia law” if Mahmood became PM.
Conspiracies about “dark forces” and “media blackouts” circulated widely, particularly from accounts that frequently promote white nationalist talking points.
Several of the most inflammatory tweets came from users like @13orangesbc, @mikelinley1, and @Fatbaldbloke1, some verified, others with histories of race-baiting and anti-Muslim rhetoric.
Institutions Silent, Platforms Complicit
This campaign flourished without any pushback from UK authorities, Labour HQ, or social media platforms. X/Twitter failed to label or suppress even the most openly conspiratorial posts. Legacy media offered little coverage of the disinfo mechanics. Once again, those trafficking in weaponized narratives were free to operate unchecked.
The speed, scale, and thematic consistency of this narrative push reveal a deeper vulnerability in British political discourse. Manufactured outrage, ethnic scapegoating, and meme-ified slander now move faster than facts, and far more efficiently than any institutional response.
Until regulatory bodies, party leadership, and platforms confront this machinery head-on, UK political reality will continue to be shaped not by debate, but by whichever faction yells “coup” the loudest, and pays for its amplification.
Who knows if the PM was reacting to an actual “plot” or BS?
PostScript: Update
Thanks to INVR_Team for this tip off. Looks like Louise Mensch has been brought in to stir the pot. It is definitely a coordinated attack if she is involved.
grifters, fraudsters, tankies and nazis have taken over social media and there is no strategic thinking by the government or security services.
The analysis of burst timing and identical phrasing across accounts is particularly revealing. This kind of coordinated amplification shows how disinformation campains exploit platform weaknesses. The lack of institional pushback makes the problem exponentially worse.