Fact Check: Video claiming staff members of UK PM Rishi Sunak enjoying Pongal meal is misleading
A video is in circulation on social media which purports to show staff members of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak enjoying a Pongal meal.
Hyderabad: A video is in circulation on social media which purports to show staff members of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak enjoying a Pongal meal.
Click here to view the post.
Fact Check:
The claim is false.
After reviewing the comments under the video, we found that several users had pointed out that the video was actually shot in Canada, not the UK as it was being claimed.
Further research using the keyword "Pongal Canada" revealed that the same video was being shared by a number of users, suggesting that the video was from Canada.
We also found a tweet by @berryonline that had photographs matching with the frames of the viral video. The Twitter profile identified Berry Verbanovic as the Mayor of Kitchener, in Ontario, Canada.
At 0:13 seconds of the video, Mayor Verbanovic can be seen as one of the suited men enjoying the meal. The tweet from Verbanovic read "Some more pictures from last night’s #ThaiPongal celebration hosted by @waterlootamils. I was honoured to attend and participate!", this confirms that the video was shot in Canada, not in the UK.
We also attempted to trace the origin of the video and discovered that the video was first posted on January 15th, by the page 'Tamil Culture Waterloo' on their Facebook page with the caption "TCA Tamil Thai Pongal Celebration (Tamil Thanksgiving) region of Waterloo politicians, Regional Chair City Mayors, councillors and Police Chief and staff."
Hence, it can be concluded that the viral video of Rishi Sunak's staff enjoying Pongal meal makes a false claim. The video is not from the UK but Canada, and does not depict the staff of Rishi Sunak.
