A Conservative minister has accused a Labour MP of “misleading” the public after he shared what she described as a “fake image” of the prime minister on Twitter. Karl Turner, the MP for Hull East, posted a picture of Rishi Sunak pulling a pint at the Great British beer festival on Tuesday, seemingly being disapproved of by an onlooker. The post quickly gained attention on the social media platform, with many users questioning its authenticity. Responding to Turner’s post, MichelleDonelan said: “In the era of deepfakes and digitally distorted images, it’s even more important to be able to have reliable sources of information you can trust. “No elected member of parliament should be misleading the public with fake images. This is pretty desperate stuff from Labour…” The science secretary then retweeted the “original” photograph, which was posted on the prime minister’s account and did not feature the disapproving side-eye. The picture also confirmed that the pint of beer that Sunak pulled had been replaced with one featuring a badly poured head of foam. Richard Holden, minister for roads and local transport, also criticised Turner for sharing “a deliberate deep fake image”. “Karl does this because he knows Sir @Keir_Starmer has no plan and nothing to say because Sir K has no values & never sticks to anything he’s promised,” the MP for North West Durham said. “So Karl shares fake pics to try & fill the gap where policy should be.” The Labour chairman of the Commons business and trade committee, Darren Jones, came to Turner’s defence, saying: “The real question is: how can anyone know if a photo is a deepfake? “I wouldn’t criticise Karl Turner for sharing a photo that looks real to me. What is your department doing to tackle deep fake photos, especially in advance of the next election? Let’s have that discussion.” Turner has been approached for comment.