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Bernie Spofforth

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Spofforth pissing in the shallow end of TalkTV
Not just a river in Egypt
Denialism
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♫ We're not listening ♫
Anti-Lockdown campaigner Bernie Spofforth is symbolic of the overlap between those opposing public health measures (including COVID-19 deniers and anti-vaxx communities) and the anti-climate movement online. Like many others, her regular talking points include conspiracies about the World Economic Forum and the idea that achieving Net Zero will cause millions of deaths by ‘mass poverty’.
—Climate Action Against Disinformation: Deny, Deceive, Delay (Vol 2)[1]
Get to fuck.
—Boxer Josh Taylor'sWikipedia response to Spofforth[2]

Bernadette "Bernie" Spofforth (April 1969–),[3] erroneously named Bonnie Spofforth in a widely churnedWikipedia Daily Mail report,[4] is a UK based and South African educated businesswoman[5] and swimwear inventor[6] turned denialist and conspiracy theorist[7] best known for her arrest for instigating race riots across the UK.[8] Coming to prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic tweeting out against public health measures around vaccines, masks and lockdowns, she later started spreading climate change misinformation related to Agenda 2030, The Great Reset, climate lockdown, and 15-minute cities,[9] as well as anti-trans rhetoric,[10] amassing over 235,000 followers on her primary account before losing it.[11] ClimateDenierRoundup, pondering why a "supposedly successful" entrepreneur would decide to devote so much time to spreading disinformation on Twitter, concludes:

Well, in addition to the fact that Spofforth’s swimsuit business would indirectly benefit from decreased COVID restrictions, her heinous Twitter feed caught the attention of major right-wing news outlets in the UK and earned her interviews on conservative networks like TalkTV and GB News. Perhaps she enjoys the limelight![10]

She has written articles on economics, the environment and China for Byline Times[12] and Country Squire Magazine,[13][14] and been platformed as an expert by the likes of Julia Hartley-Brewer,[15] Neil Oliver and Dan Wootton.[16] This platforming was criticised in the wake of the 2024 United Kingdom riots,Wikipedia which were instigated,[17] in part, by the spread of false details originating with Spofforth about the 2024 Southport stabbing,Wikipedia with Prof. Jonathan PortesWikipedia stating on Talk TV:

It’s interesting that you mentioned Bernie Spofforth who was indeed the person who appears to have been the one who set off this false rumour about the incident in Southport because of course she appeared not once but several times on mainstream media, indeed on Talk TV a few years ago. That’s where she came to prominence.[15]

Despite the veteran denialist's repeated denials of any and all responsibility,[18][4][19] Spofforth was arrested by Cheshire police on August 8, 2024 on suspicion of publishing written material to stir up racist hatred and false communications in relation to a social media post containing inaccurate information about the identity of the attacker in the Southport murders.[20][21][22] She was released on bail two days later.[23]

Going swimmingly[edit]

Spofforth, according to reporting around her role in instigating the 2024 UK riots, is a millionaire businesswoman and mother of three (including actor Theo and artist Issy) married to sculpture artist Colin Spofforth with whom she shares Stamford Mill Farm (a £1.5 million farmhouse just outside Chester in Cheshire, England).[18][24]

Prior to her resignation in March 2024,[3] Spofforth spent over a decade as Managing Director of safety swimwear company Splash About InternationalWikipedia[5] and has one utility patent and a handful of design patents for children's swimwear to her name.[6] COVID and climate change denialist Spofforth touted the company's flagship product for its environmentally-friendly reusability and its innovative silver lining, which allegedly prevents the spread of COVID-19 and other harmful bacteria and viruses, saying:

Choosing this reusable swim nappy means reducing our waste levels and lowering our environmental footprint and ensuring pool water is as clean as it can be - which can only be a positive thing.[25]

ClimateDenierRoundup explains this apparent dichotomy:

Many climate disinfluencers will say anything that benefits them, even when it contradicts science or their own past statements. When Spofforth is trying to sell swimsuits, she is all for helping out the environment, but when she wants to stand in the right-wing spotlight, she’ll use the deniers’ favorite term “climate scam.” Do better, Bernie![10]

Before this Spofforth was a director of four dissolved companies, including acting as the co-founder and co-director of Intempo Digital, a company that sold wholesale electric household goods (including radios) from 2004 until its dissolution in 2011.[26][27] Her LinkedIn profile attributes three other Directorships to her, namely European Micro Plc, The Brand Cloud Ltd and Ultimate Products PLC. However Companies House records do not show her as a Director of any of these (the first two of which are also dissolved).

Not waving but drowning[edit]

Spofforth flushed this seemingly idyllic life as she got out of her depth in the cesspool of pandemic and climate disinformation with a series of increasingly erratic tweets concluding with her apparent arrest.

Madness reigns[edit]

In a July 31, 2023, tweet, viewed 972,000 times, Spofforth falsely claimed that the 2022 United States Congress hearings on UFOsWikipedia had included the reading of a letter from extraterrestrials warning of air and water contamination to which she responded:

Seriously this is the worst bit of incoherent nudging ever seen. Even the media know they can't pull this off! Madness reigns 🤡

The footage attached was in fact former Canadian defense minister Paul HellyerWikipedia reading an extract from The Keepers: An Alien Message for the Human Race (2006) by Jim Sparks at a 2021 so-called "Citizen Hearing".[28]

If this is true, then all hell is about to break loose[edit]

Within hours of the 2024 Southport Stabbing,Wikipedia which resulted in the deaths of three young girls, Spofforth fanned the flames of hatred by spreading false information in a tweet seen by over 1.5 million people[29] which read:

SOUTHPORT - If this is true, then all hell is about to break loose.

Southport Stabbings suspect, Ali-Al-Shakati, was on MI6 watch list and was known to Liverpool mental health services. He was an asylum seeker who came to UK by boat last year.

I’m done with the mental ‘health excuse’. You should be as well!

It wasn’t true, but all hell broke loose regardless as the dubious Islamic-sounding name and supporting details were picked up and elaborated upon by Channel3 Now,Wikipedia[30] a fake news aggregation site, initially alleged to have Russian ties,[31][32] and right-wing grifters, including Andrew Tate, Tommy Robinson and Nigel Farage,[33] fueling the racist hate which instigated the 2024 riots.[34]

As public backlash and potential legal ramifications became increasingly apparent, veteran denialist Spofforth deleted her tweet and issued an anonymous denial to The Times stating:

Yes I did [post it] … It was a spur of the moment ridiculous thing to do, which has literally destroyed me. It was just a mistake. I did a really stupid stupid thing, I copied and pasted it from what I saw, and I added the line ‘if this is true’. I think it is very easy for a situation which is very emotional and very heightened, so you can end up believing what you’re seeing. People should be very careful about putting what they think is true without doing the research.[18]

When tracked down by the Daily Mail and the BBC, Spofforth went on record by telling the former:

I'm mortified that I'm being accused of this. I did not make it up. I first received this information from somebody in Southport. My post had nothing to do with the violence we've seen across the country. But I acknowledge that it may have been the source for the information used by a Russian news website.[4]

And the latter:

Why on earth would I make something up like that? I have nothing to gain and everything to lose.[19]

Adding that she was “not motivated by making money” on her account.

References[edit]

  1. Deny, Deceive, Delay (Vol 2) (19 January 2023) Climate Action Against Disinformation
  2. Twitter User, Who Called Hugh Jackman a Hypocrite for Pushing Bill Gates’ Climate Change Science, Gets Blasted by Boxing World Champion by Mrinal Mishra (21 March 2023) Essentially Sports
  3. 3.0 3.1 Bernadette SPOFFORTH Companies House
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 British businesswoman accused of being the first person to share false information about the Southport stabbing suspect wrongly being an asylum seeker says she is 'mortified' by Vivek Chaudhary (7 August 2024) The Daily Mail
  5. 5.0 5.1 Bernadette Spofforth LinkedIn
  6. 6.0 6.1 Patents by Inventor Bernadette Spofforth Justia
  7. Growing polarization around climate change on social media by Max Falkenberg et al (24 November 2022) Nature Climate Change
  8. Woman who ‘first shared fake name’ of Southport suspect arrested by Tom Witherow (9 August 2024) The Times
  9. Right-wing media use misinformation around 15-minute cities to pivot toward climate change denial by Ilana Berger (12 April 2023) Media Matters
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 Meet The Disinfluencers: Bernie Spofforth, The Swimsuit Inventor Turned Climate and COVID Liar by ClimateDenierRoundup (12 July 2023) Daily Kos
  11. Bernie's Tweets Twitter
  12. Coronavirus: How the Global Economy Could Catch a Cold by Bernadette Spofforth (21 February 2020) Byline Times
  13. China’s Consumerist Virus by Bernadette Spofforth (21 November 2020) Country Squire Magazine
  14. Saving the Planet One Mask at a Time by Bernadette Spofforth (2 November 2021) Country Squire Magazine
  15. 15.0 15.1 Talk TV: Julia Hartley-Brewer accused of 'justifying' far-right violence by Steph Brawn (5 August 2024) The National
  16. Bernie Spofforth IMDb
  17. Who is behind Southport social media storm — and can they be stopped? by Mark Sellman (1 August 2024) The Times
  18. 18.0 18.1 18.2 The mother of three who sparked havoc with false claim about Southport suspect by Tom Witherow, Shayma Bakht and Mark Sellman (2 August 2024) The Times
  19. 19.0 19.1 The real story of the news website accused of fuelling riots by Marianna Spring (8 August 2024) BBC Verrify
  20. Woman arrested in connection with inaccurate social media post (8 August 2024) Cheshire Constabulary
  21. Chester: Woman, 55, arrested over fake ID post on Southport attacker by Mark Dowling (8 August 2024) The Standard
  22. Chester woman arrested over inaccurate social media post about identity of Southport attack by Jonathan Blackburn (8 August 2024) Cheshire Live
  23. Woman who shared false name of Southport suspect on social media bailed by Bill McLoughlin (10 August 2024) The i
  24. First person to spread Southport rumour unmasked - and she has famous family by Saffron Otter (8 August 2024) Daily Mirror
  25. Bacteria-busting next generation infant swimwear takes pool protection up a level by David Laister (19 August 2021) BusinessLive
  26. "INTEMPO DIGITAL LIMITED people" (in en). GOV.UK. 
  27. Mackintosh, Hamish (16 September 2004). "Talk time: Bernadette Spofforth". The Guardian. 
  28. Fact Check: Was Letter Sent by Aliens Read Out at Congress UFO Hearing? by Tom Norton (4 August 2023) Newsweek
  29. Southport attack misinformation fuels far-right discourse on social media by Tom Cheshire and Sam Doak (31 July 2024) Sky News
  30. Southport stabbings: how online disinformation ignited unrest across the UK by Xavier Greenwood (2 August 2024) Tortoise
  31. The obscure Russian-linked ‘news’ outlet fuelling violence on Britain’s streets by Lauren Shirreff (3 August 2024) The Telegraph
  32. The real story of the news website accused of fuelling riots by Marianna Spring (August 7, 2024) BBC.
  33. Fact checked: The false far-right claims that sparked riots in Southport and across UK by Tom Watling (3 August 2024) The Independent
  34. How online lies and misinformation fuelled UK riots - and what really happened by Lydia Chantler-Hicks (6 August 2024) Evening Standard