Photo posted on Twitter by Grant Shapps on Monday
British Business Secretary Grant Shapps denied manipulating a photo he posted on his Twitter account to remove former Prime Minister Boris Johnson from it.
Shapps had posted a photo taken during a working visit to the Space Cornwall space centre, praising the first space mission to be launched from UK soil.
However, social media users discovered that Johnson, who had also visited the center in 2021, had disappeared from view.
Shapps said he was not aware the photo had been edited, adding that he had now deleted it.
The original photo is still available on the Prime Minister’s account on the “Flickr” platform, on June 9, 2021.
Johnson and Shapps are pictured side by side at the Cornwall Center during a visit to Launcher One.
And he (Johnson), the leader of the Conservative Party at the time, wore a jacket with the words: “Prime Minister”.
image copyright Virgin Orbit
The original photo posted on the Prime Minister’s account in June 2021
A source close to Shapps said: “Grant didn’t know someone had edited the photo.”
He added: “He (Shapps) removed the image as soon as he pointed this out. He clearly does not endorse anyone rewriting history by removing the former prime minister from the image.”
The first ever satellite launch mission from British soil failed on Monday, after the rocket suffered a “technical defect”.
A giant plane operated by American Virgin Orbit carried the missile from Newquay, Cornwall, to launch it over the Atlantic Ocean, and after launching the missile, which seemed to ascend correctly, the mission failed.
The experts could not launch the satellites on board and they were lost.