Steve Bray Forced To Issue Apology To Tory MP After Caught Posting Demonstrable Lie

Anti-Brexit public nuisance Steve Bray has been forced to make a grovelling apology to Tory MP Marco Longhi after making false claims connecting him to the purchase of a pub that was burned down.

Brexit-hating Bray claimed on Twitter that Longhi was involved in the buying of the Crooked House pub near Dudley, which burned down in August shortly after being sold in a suspected arson attack.

Bray was forced to backtrack, however, after the Dudley North MP engaged solicitors – Bray has since admitted that he was wrong.

In a pinned tweet, he said: “I recently posted a tweet which mistakenly claimed Conservative MP Marco Longhi was involved in buying the Crooked House Pub which burned down.

“I didn’t check my facts. I apologise to Mr Longhi if my tweet caused him any upset or distress.”

I recently posted a tweet which mistakenly claimed Conservative MP Marco Longhi was involved in buying the Crooked House Pub which burned down.

I didn’t check my facts.

I apologise to Mr Longhi if my tweet caused him any upset or distress.

— GET TORIES DONE – GENERAL ELECTION NOW! (@snb19692) October 4, 2023

Mr Longhi told the Express: “This is the man who on Wednesdays is seen lurking around Parliament and harassing MPs.

“He is constantly bellowing out noise and shouting ‘Liar, cheat and charlatan’ – but it seems he must have been thinking of himself as much as anyone else.”

Meanwhile, Bray’s campaigning company, SODEM Action Limited, is set be struck-off from Companies House, with the first gazette notice for compulsory strike-off being issued in just four days time.

The confirmation statement is now over two months late, the website Guido has confirmed.

Guido wrote that: “A previous iteration of SODEM was struck off after… failing to publish its confirmation statement. It’s almost as if he doesn’t want anyone seeing his company’s filing…”

Speaking to Guido, Tory MP Lee Anderson said: “Steve is an absolute loser – he’s a pariah and serial coward. Now he’s run out of cash he needs to pack it in, stop hanging around street corners and get a proper job and contribute towards society.”

In June of last year, Bray, a former coin dealer and unsuccessful Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate, posted videos on Twitter showing police officers approaching him near Parliament Square on Tuesday.

During the incident, the officers seized the sound equipment Bray has used since the UK voted to leave the European Union to harass and annoy MPs and passersby outside Westminster.

The Metropolitan police said Bray’s equipment had been seized under section 145 of the 2011 Police Reform Social Responsibility Act, which gives the force power to seize items being used for prohibited activities in Parliament Square. That includes operating amplified sound equipment in the controlled area.