A company accused of distributing government Brexit “propaganda” in primary schools has told HuffPost UK that the content was “deliberately” taken out of context.
A series of four images displayed on an electronic notice board were circulated widely on social media on Wednesday afternoon, prompting outrage. The images included references to Prime Minister Boris Johnson with phrases such as “He has promised Brexit would be done” and “He wants to unite the UK” over a Union Jack background.
The pictures were initially shared by Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy, who took the ensuing row to the House of Commons and confronted Johnson about the content, which she said had been screened in around 3,000 schools.
The Cabinet Office confirmed on Thursday that the videos were not part of the government’s ‘Get Ready for Brexit’ public information campaign, and added that there were no plans to show any part of the campaign in schools.
The presentation was in fact designed by Anomaly, a company which rents out digital noticeboards across a number of sectors, but most notably in around 3,500 schools across the UK.
Its CEO, Phil Austin, said that the images were intended to be part of a series about UK prime minsters past and present.
“What has happened is these slides have been deliberately taken out of context,” Austin told HuffPost UK.
“If people had seen that the slide before the one featuring the Union Jack actually had anti-Brexit posters and information saying which said that not everybody agreed with the prime minister, then we wouldn’t be in this position.”
Austin declined to share the full presentation with HuffPost UK.
“We took down the video immediately, and it won’t be used again,” he said.
Austin said that he “apologised unreservedly to anyone who had been offended by the presentation”, and added that although there are more than 3,000 schools in the company’s network, the idea that all 3,000 would have shown the presentation was “inconceivable”.
The electronic noticeboards are used for parent information and announcements, Austin said, but they also display a range of core content created by the Anomaly team. These include messaging about exercise, mental health, redemptive stories, case studies about topics such as knife crime and what Austin described as impartial information around government initiatives and balanced perspectives on political issues.
“So far I’ve only been contacted by three headteachers, and all of them have been incredibly gracious,” he said. “We have been working with schools for 15 years, and have never had a complaint about our content.
“In hindsight, the way it was presented was probably a bit naive to leave it open to misinterpretation, but we have been putting content for schools together for years and have never had a problem.”
On Wednesday, when Creasy questioned him about the images, Johnson appeared unable to confirm or deny her allegations, responding instead with: “What I can tell her, and what I think colleagues would like to hear, is that we’re investing more in every primary school in this country.”
Austin described the backlash he and his staff have received following Creasy’s highlighting of the images as a “maelstrom”, and said staff members had received “horrific, constant” abuse, including death threats. He said the company had been forced to take down its website and social media pages.
“It’s been horrific,” Austin said. “We have had to close down every public-facing element of our business.
“I have had phone calls, emails, messages on social media that don’t even bear thinking about, it’s been non-stop. We’ve done nothing wrong.
“It’s already done a huge amount of damage, and it’s all because one video has been deliberately misinterpreted.”
Speaking on Thursday after it had been confirmed that the government was not behind the presentations, Creasy said: “Schools were not asked for their consent before this video was shown, and the refusal of the company to hand over the full document as well as aggressive approach to parents who asked to see it raises further questions about their conduct.”
Austin denied that he had acted in an aggressive manner towards any parent.
Discussing Johnson’s response, Creasy added: “That the prime minister didn’t answer the concerns parents raised with me will further trouble many and our ability to ensure our schools are propaganda free zones.”